Arsenal 2-0 West Bromwich Albion: 5 Talking Points

#4 West Bromwich Albion should have had a penalty

The Baggies were hard done by the referee

Arsenal started the game brightly but the counter attacks of the Baggies caught them napping on more than one occasion in the first half. One such counter-attack saw Jay Rodriguez in a one on one against Shkodran Mustafi. The German defender clearly fouled Rodriguez in front of the referee Bobby Madley. But the referee didn't signal for a spot-kick as Rodriguez did not fall on the ground and continued in his stride to take a shot.

West Brom boss Tony Pulis was not at all impressed by the decision as he said after the game, "It's a stonewall penalty. Everybody has seen it. The player could have been sent off as well." The game was in the balance when this incident happened and the result of the match could have been a lot different had the Baggies were given a penalty before Lacazette scored the opener in the 20th minute.

We have often criticized players for going down easily and looking for a foul even at the expense of even a touch from an opposition player. BUT the case at the Emirates saw a player showing the correct spirit to play the game just to be denied a right call by the referee. You can't expect the diving and the simulation to go out of the window if the referees do not award penalties/free kicks to a player without taking a tumble! This will always be a two-way street.