Arsenal unlikely to appeal red card

Referee Chris Foy shows Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta, third left, a red card
27 October 2013

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is unlikely to appeal the red card given to captain Mikel Arteta after he had scored the penalty which set the Barclays Premier League leaders on their way to a 2-0 win at managerless Crystal Palace.

The Spanish midfielder slotted home from the spot at the start of the second half when Serge Gnarby had been upended by Adlene Guedioura.

However, Arteta was then shown a straight red card for what referee Chris Foy deemed denying a clear goalscoring opportunity when he bundled over former Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh some 35 yards out.

Palace, who parted company with Ian Holloway following the 4-1 home defeat by Fulham, rallied when Joel Ward saw his shot tipped on to the bar by Wojciech Szczesny, who then produced a wonder-save to deny Mile Jedinak from the corner.

Arsenal, though, secured all three points when Olivier Giroud headed in with three minutes left after a break by Aaron Ramsey down the left.

"We have a good ground to appeal. If he is only suspended for one game, I won't do it because he is suspended for Tuesday night (against Chelsea in the Capital One Cup) and anyway I would not have played him, but it was more today's game that was at stake that you worry about," said Wenger.

Arsenal were reduced to 10 men on 65 minutes, and then had to soak up a great deal of Palace pressure, when an equaliser would not have been unjust.

A long ball up field was taken on the chest by Chamakh, who looked to get clear before tangling with Arteta, shoulder to shoulder just inside the Arsenal half.

The pair went down in a heap, but that was enough to convince Foy the Gunners captain had denied his former team-mate a clear goalscoring opportunity and went straight for the red card.

"It was the wrong decision because it has to be a good goalscoring opportunity," Wenger said.

"He was far from goal, it was an accidental foul, he was not the last man.

"I think the referee got that one wrong and after that we dealt well with the situation.

"We were mature, organised and didn't become nervous and we got the second goal.

"Szczesny made two very good saves at an important moment of the game."

Arsenal finally secured three points when Ramsey broke down the left and delayed a chipped pass through for Giroud, who arrived on cue to nod the ball past Julian Speroni.

Wenger was pleased with the way his team closed out the match for a crucial victory following on from the disappointment of a midweek defeat at home in the Champions League to Borussia Dortmund.

"It was not a game of brilliance, but it was a game of efficiency and patience," he said.

"The pitch was a bit slow, maybe we were not the sharpest as well and the two together made us create less chances than we are used to, but we were serious and determined."

Wenger, though, is refusing to read too much into his side's solid start to the season.

"We are ambitious and want to do as well as we can, you can see that these players are focused," he said.

"Even when the legs go a little bit, they keep their legs and that is always a sign of ambition in the team.

"We want to win with style but unfortunately it is not always possible."

Palace caretaker manager Keith Millen, who made half-a-dozen changes to his side from Monday night's defeat, felt the team could be proud of their efforts.

"The last couple of days have been difficult obviously with Ian leaving, but from a work point of view it's been fantastic," he said.

"It was about playing for the fans and I think the fans will have appreciated the effort and commitment.

"Their response to going one down against a world-class side made me proud, and I am just disappointed they didn't get something from the game that I felt they deserved."

Former Stoke boss Tony Pulis has been linked with the Selhurst Park vacancy.

Millen added: "It is important that we get someone in really as quickly as possible, but it has to be the right person.

"I am sure the chairman won't rush in to that."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in