Sixer’s Sevens: SAFC 1 Arsenal 3. Thanks to Martin Atkinson’s double howler

Jake says Pete is the star man
Jake says Pete is the star man

Another defeat lands us bottom of the league. The result was hardly unexpected and Arsenal were unquestionably the better team. But the match turned on Martin Atkinson’s double howler, failing to play advantage to allow Jozy Altidore’s equaliser at 1-2 to stand or, alternatively, sending off Sagna for committing the foul as last defender. The 3-1 margin was, in the end, logical but the decision/s was/were cruel. Walter Broeckx, the Arsenal-supporting ref who did the honours in the pre-match ‘Who are You?’, says it is possible Atkinson had already blown for the foul and that he also judged both Sagna and Altidore to have been fouling each other. Um …. Pete Sixsmith was there and will doubtless offer his own view of that incident in his incomparable Soapbox analysis. For now, in his seven-word snap verdict, he is for once less gloomy in defeat …

Jake has that sinking feeling
Jake has that sinking feeling

(2013-2014)

September 14 2013 SAFC (0) 1 Arsenal (1) 3 Performance far better than the result suggests

August 31 2013 Crystal Palace (1) 3 SAFC (0) 1

Nowhere near good enough for this league

August 27 2013 Capital One Cup 2nd Round: SAFC (0) 4 MK Dons (1) 2

Outplayed, outclassed, somehow got out of jail

August 24 2013 Southampton (0) 1 SAFC (1) 1

The point was better than the performance

August 17 2013 SAFC (0) 0 Fulham (0) 1 Ultimately little difference from previous two seasons



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Sixer at the wall
Jake captures Sixer’s wall of strength



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22 thoughts on “Sixer’s Sevens: SAFC 1 Arsenal 3. Thanks to Martin Atkinson’s double howler”

  1. It was a goal scoring opportunity Johnson was just about :-)to pull the trigger then he is upended. Every other penalty given over the weekend resulted on a red card was O’Shea any different. The dynamic of the game would have altered, 1-1 Gunners down to 10 men. Sagna was a case of crime pays, not only did he prevent an opportunity it ended in a goal which punished the wrong side, Arsenal benefited from their transgression, and that is what the rule is suppose to prevent

  2. Atkinson? He’s not even good enough for Thompsons Park (for you Gooners that’s a smaller version of Hackney Marshes).

  3. Why wasn’t Sanga red carded why wasn’t the centre back sent for the penalty, both prevented scoring chances, why are the rules bsnt for cettain clubs. The ref should be struck off for life, it was on the verge of cheating, the result was probably correct but if Arsenal had finished as they should have with 9 men we would have won

    • The penalty was correct but hard to argue it was a red card offence. Johnson was in a position where he was most likely to put the ball back in front of goal rather than score himself and there were other players around.

      Sagna should have gone no doubt and as Eileen Drury told Glenn Hoddle to say “if it had been a rugby match the ref would have had the ability to let the play continue for 5 or 6 seconds and then award the free kick if no advantage had occurred. They should change the law.”

      Atkinson was too quick to blow but as Wenger said “if a goal hadn’t resulted and the ref hadn’t blown his whistle there would have been complaints then.”

      Not often I find myself agreeing with Glenn Hoddle. Many refs nowadays, at all levels of football, do allow play to go on and then bring play back and the laws should incorporate this.

      • It was a goal scoring opportunity Johnson was just about :-)to pull the trigger then he is upended. Every other penalty given over the weekend resulted on a red card was O’Shea any different. The dynamic of the game would have altered, 1-1 Gunners down to 10 men. Sagna was a case of crime pays, not only did he prevent an opportunity it ended in a goal which punished the wrong side, Arsenal benefited from their transgression, and that is what the rule is suppose to prevent

  4. Some positives in our performance and with out that biased Northern Referee we might have got something out of it……. But we didnt . Are we at the clutching at straws stage already ?

  5. Johnson as captain?? Why?
    Vaughan coping with the Arse midfield
    Really??
    Sorry but I hoped for a draw whilst expecting an arse kicking
    Needed more fibre in MF
    Altidore hard done by
    Think I may give my own posting a thumbs down

  6. Just to add, if we don’t pick up 3 points away at WestBrom next week, I don’t think PDC will survive. Sad to say.

    • Who do we get in to try and gell a team together from that squad at this time of the season? Who would work under a director of football and an already set up scouting system that wouldn’t be their own? Not many established managers I fear and we’ve tried and failed with them anyway.We would just get ” another” DiCanio so I think we’re sticking with this manager for a little while longer for good or bad.

  7. All games have there “could have, should have,what if” moments.Fact is over 90 mins Arsenal deserved to win ,we really cannot complain that much.

    My only beef is playing 2 up front leaving our midfield very exposed,and starting with Vaughan.The midfield 4 were very stretched first half,and we were lucky to still be in the game at HT.

    Thumbs up to Westwood and Fletcher.

  8. You’re right Arsenal should have put the game beyond our reach in the 1st half.
    When the team sheets were presented, I was absolutely mystified as to why Vaughn was playing ahead of Gardner and Larsson. And why Cabral wasn’t even there (who would have been my 1st choice MF).

    Thought Ki did OK and Mavrias too. I think we should have played 4-5-1. Arsenal simply had too much for us in MF. THats where we lost it. Simple as that: too much quality in MF.

    Of slight encouragement for me was the fact that we were on top for a good spell in the 2nd half and actually looked like the team most likely to win.

    Its getting hard to see mow PDC can hold onto his job. It would take a miracle for him to pick up enough points in the coming difficult fixture list. I’d like to see him given more time but the PL league is cruel and our fixtures are crueler. Sad for PDC because I think we need someone with passion in there to match our fans passion.

  9. Fairs fair. Johnson dived for the Sunderland penalty! But yes, could have been a draw if a few things had gone the home teams way.

    • Johnson was fouled and it was a penalty. One thing Atkinson got right. But that’ll be more evidence that Northern referees are biased against Arsenal.

  10. I think Walcott should have finished the game in the first half. Scoring at least one goal from his 4 chances would have been enough I think.

    About the not given goal I must admit I am a bit mystified.

    I was watching on the internet on a very poor stream with lots of shades in the picture, images not loading quick enough, and start stopping all the time and terrible sound quality that was running seconds before the images and then getting behind again. So I could be completely wrong but based on what I could see is this:

    Sagna and Altidore were holding each other (so both making a foul). Altidore then wrestled himself free but I think that the ref had already blown his whistle. And once you have blown it doesn’t matter what happens next when you look at the goal decision. A whistle stops play at that moment. If he didn’t blow I really cannot say what had entered his head to not give a goal. As the ball clearly passed the line. But a bad moment when it comes to giving advantage. If you want to give advantage if one team makes a foul.

    About not given a red card I think Atkinson did this because of both players committing a foul at the same time. That is the only other reason I can think off when it comes to not given a red card. I have to see it again on MOTD tonight on my big screen to see it again (and some other decisions like the penalty decision where it looked that Koscielny played the ball on my bad stream)

    But the goal decision that was a bad moment from Atkinson and very unlucky for Sunderland at that moment in the game.

    I thought Atkinson was rather poor all game long. My wish for a fair game with the ref not being the central focus was not granted. I think Sunderland can complain about that decision and feel aggrieved.

    And this only because the finishing of Arsenal was poor in the first half when we should have put the game out of Sunderland’s reach.

    • Well I’ve just got home from the ground so I’ll give you the benefit of watching it on TV before I comment on your mutual foul argument, but I do have an eight letter word in mind.

      Personally I’d like to see the goal that was disallowed for offside. My view was obstructed by the bloke in front of me standing up at an inopportune moment but at the time I thought it looked OK. If they don’t show it on MOTD then it was definitely OK.

      • I thought it was a 6 letter word ending in ox. As for the mutual foul, there wasn’t one. Sagna was intent on stopping Altidore by any means (preferably foul) possible. Jozy was determined to shrug him off (and did so), and advance into a scoring position. Atkinson should have waited to see which way it went, but was too quick to blow the whistle. As for Fletch being offside he certainly looked that way on the telly. Thought the commentators on SKY were appalling and right up Arsenals Arse.

      • Well ,watching from a-far and internet crashes being what they are it was amazing to listen to five different streams who had a southern sounding anchorman and an also ran back up, the bias licking up to Arsenal was quite frankly disgusting.

        The continued London centric bias is just sickening in the media, thank god for isostatic readjustment which basically means London and the south will disappear under the sea eventually (who will miss them) and the rest can then get on with a balanced life.

      • I saw it live on TV, – sadly it was offside.
        The altidore goal should have stood tho. The ref just blew too early.

      • Just seen the highlights and can’t dispute that it was offside.

        Should Sagna have had a red instead of a yellow card?

        Well as Arsenal fans will tell us it has to have denied Altidore a clear goal scoring opportunity and obviously there’s no way he could get the ball in the net from that position. Of course Atkinson is from Yorkshire so as a Northern referee won’t give the Gunners any marginal decisions.

        Having said all that the Arsenal goals were quality.

    • If that’s the case, and they were fouling each other, (they weren’t, Sagna was trying to get a piggyback I think) then why was the foul given in favour of Sunderland?

    • So yet more bias refereeing decisions in favour of Sunderland to the detriment of Arsenal eh?! Buisness as usual mate and back on planet Earth.

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