Chris Kavanagh delivered another refereeing horror show as Arsenal lost to Aston Villa.
Arsenal crashed 1-0 at Villa Park thanks to some woeful defending from Cedric when he played a sloppy ball to Gabriel, getting the Brazilian into all sorts of trouble.
But the match could have turned out quite differently if Chris Kavanagh had applied the laws of the game to Aston Villa the way they are applied to Arsenal.
Arsenal were denied a clear penalty when Emi Martinez hauled Alexandre Lacazette to the ground and the referee, Chris Kavanagh, gave a free-kick to Villa.
Here’s a closeup of Lacazette ‘fouling’ Martinez:
Bukayo Saka was also hauled down when he was through on goal but the Villa defender, Ezri Konsa, was only shown a yellow card.
For all the red card debate last week, this decision is so bad it’s mental. How can this be more of a goalscoring opportunity? Maybe if Villa were playing with no keeper? pic.twitter.com/lIX52ajrxp
— Chris Dixon (@chrismd10) February 6, 2021
In case you’re wondering what happens when Arsenal do this sort of thing, here’s Mikel Arteta being sent off against Crystal Palace in the same area after Marouane Chamakh threw himself at the Arsenal midfielder:
Mikel Arteta getting sent off for an almost identical tackle in the same area of the pitch. Never for us though, only against. pic.twitter.com/VXvRVh1IEm
— AFCAMDEN (@AFCAMDEN) February 6, 2021
You might also remember Laurent Koscielny being sent off for similar at the Emirates against Newcastle.
In addition:
https://twitter.com/ThreeFiveWho/status/1358042501526016002
'don't know why he's being booked for that' say BT about Partey's yellow
— Daily Cannon (@DailyCannon) February 6, 2021
That looked like a foul throw by Villa but as it wasn't Hector Bellerin it wasn't given
— Daily Cannon (@DailyCannon) February 6, 2021
Up until 7 December 16 foul throws were given in the Premier league, 6 went to Arsenal, 10 the other 19 teams
— Daily Cannon (@DailyCannon) February 6, 2021
After the game, Mikel Arteta was asked about referees and if he felt there was any consistency among them. “No,” he replied. “As you can see me, I was really animated for a few decisions and one big decision that I will not discuss here as well what happened.
“It’s what it is. It’s not an excuse. Regardless of those decisions we have to win the game. It’s as simple as that.”
Asked his opinion on the Lacazette incident Arteta replied simply, “Again I prefer to stay on mute on that.”
As usual, we have managers afraid to speak because they will get a ban and officials who are answerable to nobody.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal referee and officials preview
After Craig Pawson and Jon Moss’s horror show for Arsenal vs Wolves, who is taking charge against Aston Villa on Saturday?
Aston Villa vs Arsenal
- 12.30pm Saturday, 6 February, 2021
Villa Park
BT Sport - Referee: Chris Kavanagh
- Line 1: Daniel Cook
- Line 2: Constantine Hatzidakis
- Fourth official: Darren England
- VAR: David Coote
- Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis
Source
Chris Kavanagh – Referee
Chris Kavanagh returns for his fifth Arsenal involvement with Arsenal this season in the Premier League, although you will also remember him from the FA Cup against Newcastle (picture above) when he sent off Emile Smith Rowe only to have to change his mind after a VAR review.
You might also remember him from last season when he sent Eddie Nketiah off against Leicester after initially giving him a yellow and then changing his mind after he got another go.
Kavanagh, a 35-year-old ref from Manchester, has been a regular fixture at Arsenal games over the last few seasons. Last campaign only Paul Tierney had more involvements with Arsenal in an official capacity than Kavanagh who took part 11 times (six as referee, two as fourth official and three as VAR).
This season he only has the four involvements so far but the game against Aston Villa will take him to five (all as referee).
Arsenal have won just one of those games, the opener against Fulham, and the Mancunian has flashed a total of nine yellows with three going to Arsenal and six to their opponents (22 Arsenal fouls v 27 opposition).
Kavanagh has not sent off a player nor given a penalty in any of his Arsenal games so far this season.
Daniel Cook and Constantine Hatzidakis – Line
Dan Cook and Constantine Hatzidakis have been involved in a total of six Arsenal games between them this season (three each).
Darren England – Fourth official
This will only be Darren England’s second Arsenal involvement this season. His previous came as fourth official against West Ham which Arsenal won in the second game of the season.
David Coote VAR
This will be David Coote’s seventh involvement with Arsenal making him the official most likely to get an Arsenal match.
Given the fact that Arsenal have played just 22 games, Coote has been involved in a whopping 27% of games with that percentage rising to 30.4% with his inclusion against Aston Villa.
Three of his previous six appearances have come on VAR, making this his fourth time in charge of the TV. To put it another way, David Coote has been in charge of making Arsenal’s VAR decisions in almost 20% of their games.
Does that seem fair or right?
This was a point I made repeatedly last season. That sort of familiarity breeds contempt.
Coote, an official who Wikipedia doesn’t even have a date of birth, age estimate or place of birth for, was on VAR for Arsenal games against Fulham, Aston Villa (the home match we lost), and Burnley.
He’s from Nottingham and used to be “employed as Football Development Manager by Manchester CFA responsible for football and facility development across Greater Manchester, following extensive development experience,” according to his Linkedin profile.
Given he started his degree in 2000, we can assume he’s around 38 or 39.
He was fourth official for both debacles against Wolves this season.
A National List Referee since 2010, with major honours including refereeing the League 1 Play Off Final and FA Vase Final in 2014, Coote also lists three J League fixtures in Japan that same year as part of an exchange programme on his CV.
A full time Championship referee since 2016, he was then promoted to Premier League referees list in 2018.
Coote became a professional referee in July 2016 and is probably most well known for allowing Jordan Pickford to break Virgil van Dijk.
Sian Massey-Ellis Assistant VAR
Still awaiting her first match as referee despite being in the league longer than some of her male counterparts from this game who have all been promoted above her, Massey-Ellis is taking part in her sixth Arsenal game of the season (one as line 1, two as line 2, and three assistant VAR).
Massey-Ellis has been a professional for two years more than Coote. Kavanagh was handed his first Premier League matches three years after he first started in the Football League in 2014.
By that time, Massey-Ellis had been involved with Premier League matches since 2008 and was named as an assistant referee for the first time in 2010. She is still yet to be trusted as referee or VAR despite repeatedly proving her ability.
In fact, in 2020 Massey-Ellis, along with Kavanagh and Coote were named as the officials for the Uefa Youth League final.
She was the least senior of all three officials, taking the second assistant spot.