After watching this weekend’s Premier League action, there is a debate that has once again caused a case for argument. It is something that we have touched on before at LWOS, and I’m here to give another option towards the subject.
The case in point is diving; more specifically, diving in the box in order to win your side a penalty. This weekend, we had two cases of this, both coming in Sunday’s fixtures at the Etihad Stadium and Upton Park respectively.
Manchester City took on Arsenal, which saw the return of top scorer, Sergio Agüero, who has netted 19 goals this season, whilst The Gunners had Alexis Sánchez weaving his magic for the visitors. Vincent Kompany and Aaron Ramsey were back for their sides, having both overcome hamstring injuries. Arsène Wenger opted to play Columbian, David Ospina, in goal for his second consecutive league appearance.
In the first half, it was the away side on top, with City really struggling to move the ball in the middle of the park – something very uncharacteristic for Manuel Pellegrini’s men. The first incident in question regarding diving came as a result of Arsenal’s opener. Nacho Monreal played a quick one-two with Olivier Giroud, continuing his run into the box. Kompany, with all his experience as a strong centre back, moved into his path and blocked him. There was, however, minimal contact, but despite this, the Spaniard went down under contact from Kompany; in doing so, this won his side a penalty. Santi Cazorla stepped up to score his fourth in four penalties this season, giving the Gunners a 1-0 advantage at the break.
In the second half, City came out looking more determined. A quick counter attack led to top scorer, Agüero, running from the right, before cutting inside and shooting; but the Argentine’s shot was deflected. Pressure continued from the home side with Jesús Navas striking powerfully, although it was straight at Ospina in the Arsenal goal. Vincent Kompany, who had been booked earlier in the game, brought down Sánchez just outside the box – a challenge worthy of a yellow card. The referee decided to play advantage leaving Welsh midfielder, Ramsey, with an opportunity, but he shot wide.
Arsenal’s second came from a soft free kick for the hosts to give away; City striker, Stevan Jovetić, was chasing back as Arsenal broke forward, clumsily bringing Sánchez down some 40 yards from goal. Cazorla whipped the ball in and, courtesy of some shocking defending, Giroud got clear and headed past Joe Hart. It was Giroud’s eleventh headed Premier League goal since 2012/2013 season began, more than any other player. Arsenal fully deserved their victory, but was the ‘diving’ incident key to their success?
As for the next incident, that came at Upton Park, where Hull City were the visitors to Sam Allardyce’s West Ham United. Prior to the game, the Hammers were sitting in eight place, whilst Hull found themselves in the drop zone. Sone Aluko started upfront for the Tigers, despite only scoring one league goal in 16 months.
Aluko was incredibly impressive in the first half, twisting through the Hammers’ defence, creating an early opportunity for Egyptian, Ahmed Elmohamady, who wasted a decent chance. City defender, Curtis Davies, denied any chance that would have been created from Andy Carroll’s deep and looping cross by heading behind for a corner. From that resulting corner, James Tomkins headed over.
Then came the incident in question; Sone Aluko once again cleverly pierced through the West Ham defence, cutting inside of captain, Tomkins, who caught him. Aluko, however, decided to carry on and stay on his feet as an opportunity arose, only for fellow Hammers defender, James Collins, to block the shot.
In the second half, Steve Bruce’s men collapsed and just four minutes in, West Ham took the lead through Andy Carroll. Enner Valencia stuck from 20 yards, but Allan McGregor could only carry it into the former Newcastle United striker’s path. Valencia then had a chance soon after, which he placed wide. Two goals in three minutes killed any chance of going back to Humberside with points in the bag when Valencia placed a perfect ball through to Morgan Amalfitano, who delicately chipped over McGregor. Soon after, Alex Song played a pinpoint pass through to Stewart Downing who ran through and slotted in the Hammers’ third.
Talking points: Monreal went down, Aluko didn’t. Monreal won Arsenal a penalty through minimal contact, whilst Aluko, with the same amount of contact, didn’t go down, therefore denying any opportunity for a chance on goal.
So what are we saying? Should the player go down to give his side an advantage, or should he be more sporting and hope the referee takes action? As for the referees, should Mike Dean have fallen for Monreal’s tumble, and should Martin Atkinson have noticed that because Aluko had been impeded, therefore should have pulled it back and awarded a penalty? As for Monreal, he gambled and won, where in many cases it’s not working, and referees award a yellow card to the acting player for simulation. Aluko, on the other hand, maybe should have been given some help by the officials, noticing that any possible advantage had gone once Collins blocked the chance. Along with the advantage rule, that being the case, Dean gave advantage to Arsenal after Kompany’s challenge, of which he should have gone back to the incident and given the captain his second yellow card.
I’m not denying that referees have a tough job, but despite this, they are in the spotlight in the most televised league in the world, and decisions like this are vitally important. As for the players in question: Monreal, rather cleverly, won his side a penalty, and they went on to gain all three points. As for Hull, their incident came when the teams were level, so maybe if they would have scored the resulting penalty, they could have taken points back to Humberside. Meanwhile, for Aluko, well I’d like to point this professional out and give him huge credit. We all want diving kicked out of the beautiful game, something that he has not been guilty of.
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