Gary Neville thought it “absolutely certainly” wasn’t a penalty but Arsenal weren’t complaining.
Alexandre Lacazette did the honours from the spot to put the struggling Gunners 1-0 up against Chelsea before Granit Xhaka doubled their lead with a brilliant long-range free-kick shortly after.
The penalty was a stroke of luck Arsenal needed, with their team packed full of youngsters showing more heart and desire than their high-flying London rivals but struggling until then to make a breakthrough.
Referee Michael Oliver had no doubt but there was skepticism on the Sky Sports gantry where Neville felt that Kieran Tierney had bought the foul from Reece James.
Ice cold from Alexandre Lacazette!
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The Frenchman calmly sends Edouard Mendy the wrong way from the spot to give Arsenal the lead at the Emirates! ????
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“There’s not much in it. He plays for it. Watch what he does,” Neville said, as replays showed minimal contact between the two full-backs.
“I don’t think he makes any contact with him and what Tierney does is throw his leg back, he just waits for it. I don’t think it’s a penalty. I think it’s absolutely certainly not a penalty. He’s thrown his leg back towards him [to make contact].
“Look, Reece James has been done and he should never have made that challenge. But he’s been played by Tierney.”
Neville then compared Tierney’s actions to Robert Pires, the former Arsenal midfielder who he believes brought such trickery to England.
“Arsenal had one of the very best, Robert Pires brought it to the Premier League. He was a master at it – and it was very clever from Tierney.”
That view was not shared by Neville’s colleagues in the studio, however, with Alex Scott feeling James was fully at fault.
“Once you get skipped by as a full-back like that you almost have to let your ego go,” the former Arsenal defender said.
“You’ve been beaten, don’t make the decision easy. You’re making the decision easy for the ref. Once you’ve been skipped by do your best to make no contact at all.”
Former Chelsea keeper Rob Green concurred, saying: “It’s almost a carbon copy of what a referee is looking for. He’s the wrong side, there’s contact there.”
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One thing they all agreed on was that Arsenal deserved their lead.
“The runs that Tierney has made, that Bellerin have made have been good. [Arteta] will be really proud of what he’s seen,” Neville said.
The analysis of Chelsea was less flattering.
Neville added: “They were caught out in the first half. Playing like they were entitled to win this game. Perhaps they saw Arsenal’s teamsheet and thought it would be easy. Well, they’ve had the shock of their lives.”
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