RAMSEY AND CAVANI
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has claimed PSG striker Edinson
Cavani was 'very lucky' to avoid being sent off after coming to blows with
Aaron Ramsey during the 2-2 draw at the Emirates.
Cavani, who gave his side the lead in the Champions League
group game on Wednesday night, reacted to the Gunners being awarded a spot-kick
by picking up the ball in a bid to delay the taking of the penalty.
Ramsey approached the Uruguay striker clearly frustrated by
his antics, and having retrieved the ball, the Welshman was involved in a brief
scuffle which included him receiving a blow to the chest.
BT Sport pundit Wright claims Cavani can count himself very
fortunate not to have been given his marching orders over the incident on the
stroke of half-time.
'Cavani has taken the ball to bide time, maybe put a bit
more pressure on Giroud and I think he's very lucky,' he said. 'To throw his
hand like that... I don't think it's that bad, but his arm is very aggressive,
he could easily have gone for that.'
Fellow pundit Michael Owen agreed, adding: 'If Ramsey goes
down and rolls around holding his face then he's in big trouble.
'That's the sad thing, really. You're almost encouraging
players to go down. You shouldn't have to do that, the referee should act and
obviously issue a card if he's seen that.
'You're almost encouraging the players to go down, otherwise
there's no action.'
Ramsey appeared in any case to have been struck lower than
his face, which has led to some onlookers claiming the midfielder had
embellished how much contact there truly was in the confrontation.
After the match in the BT Sport studio, Rio Ferdinand said:
'I think there was a bit of over-reacting from Ramsey. I think if he was a
foreign player we'd be going mad.'
Steven Gerrard added: 'I think he should be a little
embarrassed by that. I thought the Welsh are meant to be tough!'
Tempers boiled over as Alexis Sanchez went down inside the
penalty area after having his standing leg swiped out by Grzegorz
Krychowiak.
Olivier Giroud stepped up to calmly send Alphonse Areola the
wrong way to level matters with the final kick of the half, before the
Frenchman left the pitch involved in a heated exchange with Cavani.
Giroud put his hand on the back of the neck of the striker,
as the pair continued to discuss the heated incident as they walked down the
tunnel at the Emirates.
The penalty acted as a turning point for Arsene Wenger's
side, as the French champions had hitherto dominated proceedings and were deservedly
in front after 18 minutes.
Blaise Matuidi had the time and space to pick Cavani out at
the back post, who tapped the ball home from close range.
Arsenal recovered to go into the interval on level terms
before a fortunate own goal from Marco Verratti gave the hosts the lead on the
hour-mark.
But Arsenal squandered their advantage, with Lucas Moura's
header taking a deflection off Alex Iwobi on its way into the net as the French
champions went top of the group on goal difference.
GRAHAM POLL'S
VERDICT
Aaron Ramsey displayed an example of modern footballers'
duplicity in an altercation with Edinson Cavani after Arsenal were awarded a
penalty on half-time.
Cavani had taken the ball away to delay the Gunners taking
the spot-kick and Ramsey tried to retrieve it.
After their clash Ramsey fell back holding his face in an
attempt to get Cavani sent off although replays showed he was touched well
below the neckline.
Thankfully Felix Brych, the German referee, ignored the
Welshman's play-acting, which actually meant Cavani escaped the yellow card he
deserved.
The penalty was clear enough as Paris Saint-Germain's
Grzegorz Krychowiak challenge caught Alexis Sanchez' boot as he slid past him.
The contact wasn't strong but was a foul and Sanchez went to
ground to ensure Brych, helped by his additional assistant, pointed to the
spot.
Cavani himself was guilty of a dive to try and win a penalty
when under pressure from Laurent Koscielny just after an hour and was fortunate
again to avoid a yellow card.
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