Arsenal drew with Middlesbrough yesterday, 1-1, in a somewhat expected manner. With all the fixtures & injuries we've had lately, Arsenal looked a bit tired from the recent number of fixtures they've played lately. Although, fixture congestion ia the kind of problem you'd like at your club & it's not a good excuse.
However, what is a good excuse is Mike Riley totally blowing the penalty call for Boro. Not only was it not a penalty but the "foul" occurred a good two yards outside the box. Yakubu had been going down to ground at the slightest possibility of contact all afternoon long, so perhaps Philippe Senderos could be blamed for not noticing that & putting himself in a bad situation especially with Mike Riley, FA Referee & Man Utd penalty-fairy officiating the match. What's that? Mike Riley awarded a penalty against Arsenal? Go figure.
Anyway, Arsenal tied the score at one in the 77th minute with a goal from Thierry Henry after a controversial moment where it looked like Jens Lehmann might have stepped out of the penalty area with the ball in his hand. So in the end the controversial moments evened out I suppose.
Lineups & my match rating (out of 10):
Lehmann, 7
Hoyte, 5.5
Kolo Toure, 6
Senderos, 5.5
Clichy, 6.5
Flamini, 6
Fabregas, 6
Gilberto, 6.5
Rosicky, 7
Adebayor, 6
Henry, 7
Subs: Denilson (nr) for Hoyte at 80'; Aliadiere (nr) for Adebayor at 86'
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