Arsenal v Swansea balls: Xhaka’s mad red card, Walcott’s cruel misses and Swans pride
Media Balls: a look at reporting on Arsenal v Swansea City in the Premier League. Arsenal won the pulsating game 3-2.
Arsenal’s Xhaka was given a straight red card in the 70th minute for a cynical trip on the half-way line. What says the media?
Arsenal saw Xhaka sent off for a petulant trip and despite seeing Walcott squander two late chances, they held on as Swansea equalled their worst start to a league season.
The Sun employs two journalists – two – (Duncan Wright and Sam Morgan) to report:
THEO WALCOTT was cruelly denied a hat-trick…
No. Walcott was denied a hat-trick because having scored a brace he bhit a post and then missed a simple chance from about five yards out. The BBC calls it “one of the misses of the season”.
The Sun then delivers a typo – “the ball ruled across the line without going in“. got that – it ‘ruled’ [rolled?] across the line but did not go in.
The Guardian says of the Xhaka red card:
Barrow had outstripped Xhaka and the Arsenal player’s reaction was cynical in the extreme.
The Mail notes:
Xhaka lunged at him from behind and brought him down. Referee Jon Moss showed him a straight red card, which seemed harsh.
Says Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “It looked harsh to me. A dark yellow. But the referee went for a bright red.”
In the Islington Gazette (Arsenal’s local rag) the red card is headline news:
Ten man Arsenal beat Swansea City 3-2 after open game marred by Granit Xhaka’s harsh sending off
Layth Yousif writes:
Yes it was a cynical trip. But a straight red when there were plenty of men covering and no apparent danger. If new rules were designed to clarify situations such as these, the fear is that changes – however well-intentioned – have only served to muddy the waters. Again.
In the South Wales Evening Post (Swansea’s local news source), the headline accentuates the positives:
Arsenal 3 Swansea City 2: Bob Bradley’s team proud in defeat against 10-man Gunners
Xhaka’s afternoon then went from bad to worse, the Swiss hardman seeing red for a cynical challenge on Modou Barrow. Arsenal protests were waved away by referee Jon Moss.
And Walcott’s hat-trick, the one the Sun says he was “cruelly denied”?
Walcott misses a sitter just before the full-time whistle. Swansea gave 10-man Arsenal a massive fright here
As for the red card, the rules were altered, as the BBC writes:
Players who commit a foul to deny a goalscoring opportunity will no longer automatically be sent off, football’s rule-making body has confirmed. The previous ‘triple-punishment’ rule required a red card – and therefore a suspension – as well as the award of a penalty under those circumstances.
However, players committing accidental fouls that deny a goalscoring chance will now be cautioned instead. But deliberate fouls will still incur a red card.
Those include holding, pulling or pushing, not playing the ball, serious foul play, violent conduct or deliberate handball in order to deny a goalscoring opportunity.
Was this a goalscoring opportunity?
Xhaka red card pic.twitter.com/YtUU9NXHJU
— Terje (@AFCTerje) October 15, 2016
Posted: 15th, October 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
