Steve Cooper has expressed his disappointment at the quality of officiating in Leicester City’s match against Arsenal.
The Gunners beat the Foxes 4-2 at the Emirates Stadium and were clearly the better team. However, referee Samuel Barrott made a few controversial calls, which Cooper pointed out in the post-match press conference.
“We were very disappointed with a foul not being given on Vards for the first goal. And although we don’t come into games trying to get players sent off, why he hasn’t sent off Calafiori is a little bit beyond belief. Because of the spell we’re in and the spell that I’m in personally, I’m trying to not let referees’ decisions be the headline, as I’m trying to take responsibility for a team that needs to get better results. But we feel those were two poor decisions.” Cooper said.
Jamie Vardy fouled by William Saliba just before Arsenal’s opener
The first controversial call occurred in the opening 20 minutes, just before Arsenal opened the scoring. Jamie Vardy received the ball, and with William Saliba closing him down, he positioned himself well to put his body between the Frenchman and the ball. Saliba then tugged at Vardy’s shoulder, bringing him down and winning the ball.
Less than a minute later, the Gunners had the ball in the back of Leicester’s net. The Video Assistant Referee wasn’t used as the foul had apparently happened in another play. It was quite a baffling call, with even commenters wondering how that hadn’t been deemed to have been a foul. Vardy protested and was booked in the process.
Steve Cooper questions why Riccardo Calafiori wasn’t sent off
The second call looked less controversial, but Cooper was especially unhappy with this decision. Facundo Bounanotte was fouled by Riccardo Calafiori, who was already on a booking. It didn’t seem to be a second bookable offence, but Buonanotte and Cooper were extremely unhappy that the Italian was not sent off. Subsequently, the Argentine was booked for asking for a second yellow card for Calafiori. Oliver Skipp escaped a second yellow card for a worse foul, so this didn’t look like a referee mistake.
However, Barrott appeared to be wrong about another decision. Wilfred Ndidi executed a perfect tackle to dispossess Calafiori in the first half. Frustratingly, not only was a foul given against Ndidi but the midfielder was also booked for the tackle.
Controversial decisions by the officials have been a talking point for Leicester City this season. While it is easy to blame officials for bad results, there have been some genuinely baffling calls that have affected the Foxes recently. Steve Cooper has every right to be unhappy with the quality of officiating this season.
