Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and his counterpart Enzo Maresca are at odds with referee over inconsistent refereeing decisions, following a chaotic 1-1 draw against Chelsea.
The controversy began when Chelsea midfielder Moisés Caicedo was sent off for a dreadful tackle on Arsenal's Mikel Merino midway through the first half. While Maresca accepted that Caicedo deserved to be given his marching orders, he cried foul, pointing out inconsistencies in refereeing decisions made by officials throughout the season.
Maresca specifically brought up Chelsea midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, who escaped punishment for a poor tackle against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last November. He also referred to Chelsea right-back Reece James arguing that Arsenal should have been reduced to 10 men when Hincapié left Trevoh Chalobah with a black eye during an aerial duel.
"I think Reece is right," Maresca said. "But they decide. It's a red card, but why was Bentancur's against Reece not a red card when we were at Spurs away? As a manager, we struggle to understand why they judge in different ways."
Arsenal lost Caicedo for the remainder of the game and went on to draw 1-1 despite having numerical superiority. The Gunners' performance was boosted by Maresca's assessment that his side struggled to capitalize on their advantage due to Chelsea trying to get players sent off.
"It's a reality," Maresca said about referee decisions. "The Trevoh one, I asked the referee, he said it wasn't an elbow. So, this is what they said. He had a black eye, with ice at half-time. But they judge in different ways."
Arteta echoed his counterpart's sentiments, acknowledging that Arsenal failed to take full advantage of their numerical superiority and allowing Chelsea to stay in contention for the top spot.
"We didn't manage to settle the game," Arteta said. "We had more yellow cards. Those players were constantly targeted to try to even the game in terms of numbers."
The controversy began when Chelsea midfielder Moisés Caicedo was sent off for a dreadful tackle on Arsenal's Mikel Merino midway through the first half. While Maresca accepted that Caicedo deserved to be given his marching orders, he cried foul, pointing out inconsistencies in refereeing decisions made by officials throughout the season.
Maresca specifically brought up Chelsea midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, who escaped punishment for a poor tackle against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last November. He also referred to Chelsea right-back Reece James arguing that Arsenal should have been reduced to 10 men when Hincapié left Trevoh Chalobah with a black eye during an aerial duel.
"I think Reece is right," Maresca said. "But they decide. It's a red card, but why was Bentancur's against Reece not a red card when we were at Spurs away? As a manager, we struggle to understand why they judge in different ways."
Arsenal lost Caicedo for the remainder of the game and went on to draw 1-1 despite having numerical superiority. The Gunners' performance was boosted by Maresca's assessment that his side struggled to capitalize on their advantage due to Chelsea trying to get players sent off.
"It's a reality," Maresca said about referee decisions. "The Trevoh one, I asked the referee, he said it wasn't an elbow. So, this is what they said. He had a black eye, with ice at half-time. But they judge in different ways."
Arteta echoed his counterpart's sentiments, acknowledging that Arsenal failed to take full advantage of their numerical superiority and allowing Chelsea to stay in contention for the top spot.
"We didn't manage to settle the game," Arteta said. "We had more yellow cards. Those players were constantly targeted to try to even the game in terms of numbers."
ref decisions are getting wack every single match, its like they dont care about fairness or anything, cant believe arteta and maresca saying the same thing 
it makes sense tho, i mean who decides what a tackle is not a red card in one game but is in another? seems so biased towards the opposing team 
man I feel for mikel arteta and enzo maresca on this one. it's so frustrating when you're playing well but get screwed by the refs 
. but at the end of the day, you can't control the refs' decisions, just how you respond to them 
. still gives me hope for arsenal though, they'll bounce back from this 
and arteta and maresca are right, we can't even get our heads around why some refs give out red cards while others don't 
i mean, Trevoh gets puked on by hincapié but no foul? that's just wild 
Refs need to get it together, can't have inconsistent decisions that ruin games like this 
. One card for Caicedo but let Bentancur away at Spurs? Not fair 
️.
️. And what's with the excuse that "they decide" 
.
, you know when you're at the park and someone's having a barbecue? And they throw these amazing wings with this spicy sauce... anyway, back to football 
. I was watching Arsenal vs Chelsea and I thought, have you seen that wing recipe online? It's insane! 10/10 would eat those all day 
. And what's up with referees making these crazy calls?! Maresca's rant is like me complaining about the wings... I mean, who gives a red card to Moisés Caicedo and not Rodrigo Bentancur? That just doesn't make sense 
what's with this unevenness? one guy gets sent off and the other doesn't? maresca's bringing up bentancur, james too... that's some pretty strong evidence of biased officiating. shouldn't there be consistency in all these decisions? 
️. Arteta's right too, though - when you're down 10 men, you need to settle the game quickly or else it's gonna be tough to come back