If I had to resume this game in a nutshell, I'd be using this gif:

But, joking aside, anyone else seen the game? Cracking game of football if I dare say, Chelsea could have gotten away with the win after the first half if they would have been a bit more clinical I think. Kept the game interesting and there will be a lot talk about the controversial call as well. All that tension and especially the managers frustration with each other getting me hyped up for the derbies this season. Thought?

would love to see PL referees explaining how that hair pull is not a red card, in that moment I knew spurs is going to score, this game is still rigged joke, wish calls would be public like in NFL

As a neutral, I think Chelsea was on the wrong end of it. The first Spurs goal was a long time after the foul dispute, so the boys need to get on with things and play it out. That is their fault, plus why try to get fancy while inside your own box and not clear it out to reset?

The second goal for Spurs should have never happened. That foul in the box was a red card and thus should have reset the play for Chelsea. How the ref didn't even call a foul was insane, much less it not being a card-able offense.

The game overall was a classic Derby and a lot of fun to watch. I was surprised by Chelsea if I am honest. They played better than I expected, against a very solid Spurs team. Rival matches can be so unpredictable and fun.

@DarthFooty First Spurs goal in totally on Jorginho, I kinda glad he hasn't won ballon d'or cause lets be honest, after some of his mistake, people would mock him so much more if he had. However, I saw a comment from Foster on a podcast saying that Richarlison was in an offside position and blocked Mendy line of sight... And I kinda agree with that, haven't check the rules recently but I felt like there would have been enough to call an offside.

Spurs were pretty solid defensively yes, but it really felt like the stars alligned to give them a point in that game. Still think it was an excellent game to watch as a neutral though.

@quikzyyy Thats the thing, those player whole jobs are based on those results and we know 1 or 2 points can make a difference so how come its so hard for the FA to be transparent about it? If it make perfect sense and we shouldn't question the ref decision, explain them to us post-game at least.

Exactly, while I'm happy for the result as an Arsenal fan, as a football fan I'm totally pissed, these things shouldn't happen with all the replays, VAR technology and so on, whole PGMOL/FA can fix matches and players or clubs can't say anything about it, the way how protected they are, disgusting..

Watch Arsenal become best club in London this season 😉

@quikzyyy Thats the thing, its not even protecting them anymore, because there so many way referee can influence game without being accounted for it. At thi point, its way easier for the fans to accuse them of fixing than if the FA released clear explanation or audio of the refs decision.

How can we trust in something that would be so easy to share with the whole fandom if there really wasn't any wrongdoing behind the scene? Even if the federation didn't fix games, its hard to feel like they don't want to keep the door open to it or something, you know?

https://www.espn.com/soccer/chelsea-engchelsea/story/4724805/video-assistant-referee-mike-dean-admits-error-in-missed-marc-cucurella-hair-pull

@DarthFooty Well at least but still seem like an easy thing to do once everything is said and done.

I also don't understand how any ref would "not deem it a violent act" either.

Also, now that the video assistant ref admit it was a mistake, why don't they retroactively give the player a 2 matches ban? That seem really stupid. Well, even though Romero will miss a few games over an injury, don't really wish that on him even after his conduct. :(

I need to read up all the "rules" but I don't think hair pulling is in there as a "foul", so I guess that is open to interpretation with the Ref's.

Logic tells us it should be a foul, but the rule book does have to the letter followers, so maybe this was a factor? Every time I have seen it happen, or it happened to me, a foul was called, but maybe the rulebook does not cover it.

@DarthFooty Made a research and here what I found.

Hair pulling is rare, and isn't specifically covered within the Laws of the Game so comes under either violent conduct or unsporting behaviour, depending on the specifics, though the mere act isn't an automatic dismissal.

So yeah, seem like the rulebook doesn't cover it. Propably this was part of the problem but I still think if the VAR himself concede he made a mistake, the FA should stick with his ref and issue a retroactive punishement for the player...

Surprised to hear you say it happened to you before though, I suppose it must have been pretty painful and unexpected the first time it happened. :O

A lot of stupid things happen in a match. You get into close quarters on set plays and people do the craziest stuff to disrupt your game. Grabbing, pulling, pinching, elbows, knees, punches, thumbing, hair pulls, jersey pulls, stomps on toes and feet, ect..... Harder to get away with now, but still happens.

The most shocking I had to deal with was the thumbing... I got a red card after that happened. haha

The most shocking I had to deal with was the thumbing... I got a red card after that happened. haha

Damn, didn't think this kind of stuff actually happened other than on super rare occasion, guess some players are ready to do anything to get under another skins. :U

I need to read up all the "rules" but I don't think hair pulling is in there as a "foul", so I guess that is open to interpretation with the Ref's.

@terameraa Well sure, there ain't rule in the book but its clearly fall under the category of violent conduct, even the VAR in question said he realized he made a mistake by not checking the incident with the ref.

if it’s not a foul let’s just hold every player by hair and automatically win every single game lol

@quikzyyy This is why we are supposed to have ref in the first place, to be able to have the common sense to enforce the rule or adapt them in a context that is fair for everyone involved, that was absolutely not the case of either the ref or var in that game. If all we needed was to follow a rulebook to the letter, we'd only need robot to ref games, they would care way less about the abuse from both players and fans anyway. XD

Why not retroactively impose a two-match suspension on the player given that the video assistance referee has admitted that a mistake was made? That sounds pretty foolish. Romero will miss a few games due to an injury, but given his behavior, don't really wish that on him.

Why not retroactively impose a two-match suspension on the player given that the video assistance referee has admitted that a mistake was made?

They should impose a suspension on referees instead, make 3 huge mistakes = go back to championship or something. Week in week out they make so many mistakes costing teams points, while lot of us may see it only as a 2 points, but those 2 points may be crucial for any team at the end of the season, whenever they fight for title, champions league or relegation.

Managers having poor form = sacked

Players having poor form = benched, sold, froze

Referees making mistake after mistake = no one can even comment on it because managers gets fine.

I thought referees already could be suspended for committing grave errors.

Given that the video assistant referee admits to making a mistake, why not impose a two-match punishment on the player retroactively? That sounds ridiculous. Romero will miss a few games due to an injury, but considering his behavior, it is not something you want to happen to him.