Chelsea v Arsenal: Kieran Gibbs wrongly sent-off by Andre Marriner after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain deliberately handballs
Winger should have been shown a red card when Arsenal went 3-0 down but Marriner sent-off Gibbs instead
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Your support makes all the difference.With Arsenal already two goals down after the worst possible start to their London derby against Chelsea, things somehow managed to get even worse when Andre Marriner pointed to the spot for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's deliberate handball on the goal-line.
To make matters worse, Marriner then reduced the Gunners down to 10 men as he showed a red card… to Kieran Gibbs.
Gibbs protested his innocence profusely, and Oxlade-Chamberlain even admitted to Marriner “it was me”. But happy with his calamitous decision, Gibbs was sent packing, and Eden Hazard quickly converted the spot-kick by drilling the ball down the middle as Wojciech Szczesny dived to his right to make it 3-0.
Gibbs may have felt that he was to blame for the opening two goals, when he was nowhere to be seen as Chelsea converted two chances through Samuel Eto’o and Andre Schurrle on the Arsenal left.
Regardless, it was not a happy celebration for Arsene Wenger as he took charge of his 1,000th match for Arsenal.
Pedro Pinto, the head of media for Uefa, quickly issued his belief on Twitter that goal-line technology is not the answer, and that a fifth official on the byline - like the ones used in Europe - would've been able to correct Marriner on his horrendous error.
"With an additional assistant referee on the end line, referee would not have got that sending off wrong. Technology is not the answer," Michel Platini's head of media Pinto said. "More eye balls are the answer ... GLT (goal-line technology) helps with goal line decisions, but 5 officials system gives referee more angles of vision. It's not one vs the other."
Oxlade-Chamberlain continued until the break, when he was substituted for Mathieu Flamini, while Laurent Koscielny was also replaced by Carl Jenkinson.
Chelsea went on to add a fourth before the break through Oscar, who doubled his tally midway through the second half, and January signing Mohamed Salah scored his first goal for the club when he rounded off the rout in the closing minutes.
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