Arsenal return to Champions League action on Wednesday night, with a favourable draw against French moneybags Monaco to look forward to.
It makes a nice change for the Gunners to be drawn against a side that isn’t Barcelona or Bayern Munich – despite repeating their usual trick of finishing runners up in their group.
Arsene Wenger will fancy his side’s chances given the way in which they are performing at the moment.
Arsenal have lost just one game – although it was the north London derby – since their miserable defeat at Southampton on New Years Day.
In that time, Wenger’s side have established themselves as firm favourites for a top four finish – currently sitting third in the Premier League table – as well as booking an FA Cup quarter final trip to face Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The question remains as to where this sort of form was earlier on in the season, with many having predicted a title challenge prior to the season starting.
Perhaps Wenger can point to these five costly refereeing decisions as a possible reason?
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Click on Arsene Wenger to reveal 5 refereeing balls-ups that have cost Arsenal in 2014/15
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Leicester v Arsenal – August 31
Arsenal have been playing catch up all season following their slow start, with an early season draw against rock-bottom Leicester at the King Power Stadium in August proving a frustrating afternoon.
Alexis Sanchez put the Gunners ahead with his first Premier League goal, before Foxes striker Ulloa headed Nigel Pearson’s side level just two minutes later.
Arsenal huffed and puffed in search of a winner for the remainder of the game, and should have been afforded the opportunity from the spot, when Santi Cazorla was tripped in the box – but referee Anthony Taylor was unmoved, despite replays showing clear contact.
Chelsea v Arsenal – October 5
Arsene Wenger extended his winless run against Jose Mourinho to 12 games in October, as Chelsea ran out 2-0 winners at Stamford Bridge.
However it might have been a different story, had Gary Cahill been shown a straight red card for his dangerous challenge on Alexis Sanchez in the first half.
Wenger showed what he thought of the decision by entering Jose Mourinho’s technical area – with everyone watching clearly able to see he wanted to do far more than just the shove in the chest he dished out.
Arsenal 3-3 Anderlecht – November 4
Arsenal suffered a major disappointment in November, blowing a 3-0 lead at home to Anderlecht which massively dented their hopes of ending their Champions League group as winners.
The Gunners led through a Mikel Arteta penalty, followed by goals from Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
But the goal that started the Belgian’s revival should never have stood, with Anthony Vanden Borre clearly a yard offside.
At the time the result looked costly, with the Gunners sure a second placed finish would have seen them drawn against another European giant – but as it happened the draw for the last 16 has proved kinder than previous years, with Monaco arriving at the Emirates tomorrow.
Stoke City v Arsenal – December 6
Whilst the Gunners cannot blame the officials for a dreadful first half display at the Britannia which saw them go 3-0 down in the first 45 minutes, their hopes of a comeback were dented by a soft sending off in the second period.
Arsenal had responded with goals from two goals in two minutes from Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey, but their hopes of leaving their bogey ground with anything were dashed late on, when Calum Chambers was shown a harsh second yellow card by referee Anthony Taylor.
Southampton 2-0 Arsenal – January 1
The Gunners made a wretched start to 2015, losing 2-0 to top four rivals Southampton at St Mary’s.
Fortunatley for Arsene Wenger, things have improved dramatically since this loss, whilst the Arsenal boss could also argue things might have been different on the day had the referee shown Saints defender Florin Gardos a red card with a quarter of the game remaining.
The centre back clearly pulled back Alexis Sanchez as the last man, with the Chilean denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. But referee Craig Pawson issued only a yellow card, to further underline it was simply not Arsenal’s day on the south coast.
