In Arsenal's match against Manchester City, referee Atwell's penalty triggered a strong dissatisfaction among Arsenal players. All three of his penalties were against Arsenal, with Odegaard falling to the ground inside the penalty area without awarding a penalty, while Adler Zaka's penalty and Gabriel's departure from the field were also controversial.
Let's analyze these three penalties one by one.
The first controversy came in the 10th minute, when Erdegaard collapsed after breaking into the box and making contact with Ederson, the referee did not award a penalty, and after intervening in the penalty, the video assistant referee also supported the referee.
Sky Sports first analyzed, "The referee believes that Ederson touched the ball first. Subsequently, reporter Lewis Jones analyzed, "This sentence is very difficult, and the video assistant referee carefully checked the slow motion about 10 times." You can't say with certainty that Edson didn't touch the ball. ”
In slow motion, Edgar's left foot did not touch the ball, but stepped on Edson's foot. Meanwhile, Ederson's left foot touched the ball first. Therefore, awarding a corner, rather than a penalty, is the right choice.
According to the Analysis of the Sun, Erdegaard was indeed knocked down, but the key question is whether Ederson kicked the ball first or kicked the man first, Atwell believes that Edson touched the ball first, and he also got the support of the video assistant referee.
The second controversy came in the 53rd minute, when Bernardo Silva burst into the box and fell to the ground under Xhaka's defense, and Atwell also failed to award a penalty in the first place. However, after being reminded by the video assistant referee, the referee looked back at the slow motion and changed the penalty.
In slow motion, after Bernardo Silva changed direction, Xhaka used both hands and feet, tripping his left leg and pulling on his opponent's shirt with his left hand. Lewis Jones analyzed, "My first reaction was to take a penalty, Xhaka was too clumsy. Indeed, Xhaka's foul was quite obvious and it was no surprise that Atwell had changed the penalty.
However, the Arsenal players could not accept such a decision, and after Zaka was yellowed, Gabriel made another sinister move, deliberately stepping on the penalty spot, and received the first yellow card of the game.
Lewis-Jones also noted that looking at Xhaka's reaction, he could have gotten a second yellow card. He hadn't been lucky enough not to be stained red, and he should have calmed down.
The third controversy came in the 59th minute, after Ederson drove the ball out of the field, Gabriel knocked down Jesus in the middle circle, the referee showed Gabriel a second yellow card, and Arsenal center-back left the field red.
From the slow motion, after Jesus turned around, Gabriel also used both hands and feet, and the right hand used a throat locking action, which was not surprising.
In slow motion, the referee's three decisions were less controversial, but after Xhaka delivered the penalty, the Arsenal player was visibly out of control, which was a key reason why Gabriel voluntarily applied for a red card. From this perspective, Arsenal paid the price for their youth and impulsiveness.