Oct 212015
 

Arsenal succeeded in showing the world that Bayern Munich can be defeated after they can crashing to a two goals defeat at the hands of the Premier League team. Both Goals which came late on in the second half of the game just showed how good the team tactics had worked. The first half of the game saw Arsenal miss some chances with Manuel Neuer pulling a wonderful save to deny Theo Walcott. The Arsenal striker look goal bound after running into a rebound but having saved the first attempt, Neuer was again on hand to save this one. That save kept Bayern in the game as the Gunners seemed to be lying in wait for their opponents to make any slight mistake. The first half ended in a stalemate as both teams were unable to break the deadlock in the first 45 minutes.

Enter the second half and Oliver Giroud heads home the first from a quite intelligent pass from Santi Carzola. Having earlier kept Bayern in the game through his heroics, the German shot stopper totally undid all that with his wrong read of the pass. In a bid for an equaliser, Bayern threw their all forward in the dying minutes of the game only to be hit again by Arsenal on the quick break. Manuel Neuer thought he had denied fellow German Mesut Ozil only to be told other wise by the goal official. Despite the victory Arsenal remain at the bottom of their group with just three points but this win just gives the team a reason to smile for better days ahead.

Sep 222015
 

Chelsea striker, Diego Costa and Arsenal defender, Gabriel Paulista have been charged by the English FA for their violent conduct during the match between the two teams on Saturday.  The Chelsea striker was involved in an incident earlier in the game with Laurent Koscielny in the first half of the game. While Diego Costa is charged with violent conduct, Gabriel is charged with improper conduct. Video footage shows that the Chelsea man had earlier showed his hands in the arsenal defenders face before flailing his left arm which also made contact with the defender. The referee at the time did not see all this but saw when Gabriel Paulista tried to kick the Chelsea strike which made him award a second yellow card that resulted to his sending off. Given the circumstances surrounding the incident, it could be said that the referee viewed Gabriel’s kick as retaliation for an earlier confrontation between the two players.

The situation with Gabriel is a bit complicated as the club has already filed an appeal for wrongful dismissal and even if it is accepted, the player would still be guilty to improper conduct for refusing to leave the pitch after he was sent off. It took the intervention of some players and a security agent to finally get him off. His fellow Arsenal man, Santi Carzola who was sent off following his tackle on Cesc Fabregas got off with a warning from the FA.

Following the charges, Diego Costa could face a three match ban for his actions while Gabriel could see his initial ban for his red card extended from three games to a higher number. A panel of judges would refer to the video footage of the match to determine the punishment that both players deserve for their actions and the decision of the panel must be congruent. The two clubs have also been charged by the FA for failing to conduct their players during the match which would go down to be one of the most heated encounters between the teams and they both have until Thursday to respond to the charges.