Them Little Feets Was Going Like This

from the factory floor

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE

Ashburton Grove

Referee:  Martin Atkinson

Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City    8 April 2012

Arteta [87]

For this crucial fixture, before heading to the Factory I tried to soothe the PMT* with some eggs, biscuits and delicious bacon, and took in some of the United-QPR match. Not to be outdone by the poor officiating in the Chelsea-Wigan match, Lee Mason and his crew offered up an encore with another crucially incorrect offside, compounded by the shameful dive [that still today no one will call a dive ‘cos he’s English, innit?] of Ashley Young.

I’m not saying United couldn’t handle QPR at home without the advantage, but that doesn’t make it any more tolerable that they were once again benefactors of generous officiating at Old Trafford. That makes 8 penalties for them at home this season in the league, 8 more than the Arsenal have enjoyed. I tweeted before our match that I hoped the home cooking would continue at the Grove. If you’re thinking that’s foreshadowing, you’re right. Sort of.

It would only take 15 minutes to realize that hope of home-cooking was wasted. Kompany barreled through the back of Van Persie for as clear a penalty as you could get, and we only got a corner kick out of it.** If the hand on Young’s back was a sending off then Kompany should receive a season-long ban for the amount of contact he made in comparison. From the ensuing corner, RVP pinged a header off the crossbar via an unwitting Vermaelen.