Matt Le Tissier swipes at ‘over the top’ Arsenal man after analysing Sunderland controversy
Sunderland’s first goal against Arsenal over the weekend had an element of fortune about it as they were handed a soft free-kick in the build-up for Martin Zubimendi’s foul on Wilson Isidor.
That is according to Premier League legend Matt Le Tissier, who has exclusively told Football Insider that he felt it was not a foul by Martin Zubimendi but can understand why it was given by referee Craig Pawson.
Arsenal’s winning run came to an end against Sunderland as they were held to a 2-2 draw on Saturday (8 November) following Brian Brobbey’s added-time equaliser.
Sunderland drew first blood on Wearside as Dan Ballard broke through from Nordi Mukiele‘s knock-down to fire past David Raya before the break.
Arsenal hit back in the second-half as Bukayo Saka netted at the near-post following some shoddy Sunderland defending, then Leandro Trossard scored fantastically from the edge of the box to make it 2-1.
Brobbey was the hero as he notched in added-time after holding off Gabriel Magalhaes to score, but fans of the visitors felt hard done by after a major moment did not go their way early on.
Zubimendi’s contentious foul on Wilson Isidor led to first Sunderland goal
There were 36 minutes on the clock at the Stadium of Light when Arsenal midfielder Zubimendi was adjudged to have tripped Isidor as he turned inside his own half.
Referee Pawson saw fit to book the Spaniard for his efforts, but replays showed that he did win the ball despite the forceful nature of the challenge.
A looping free-kick was duly played into the Gunners’ area, with Ballard flicking it onto Mukiele before the ex-Arsenal man smashed the ball past Raya.
Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett told Football Insider that Arsenal could have “no complaints” for the decision that saw Sunderland take the lead.
Le Tissier backs Craig Pawson’s call despite ‘soft’ nature of Zubimendi’s foul
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former England and Southampton striker Le Tissier insisted that, despite the challenge being a debatable foul, he can understand why the referee gave it in real time.
He said: “Obviously they’re a long way from Arsenal’s goal, so they have plenty of time to defend it and defend it better, and it’s not like Arsenal to kind of almost allow a chance like that to happen, given what they’ve been doing the last few weeks.
“You know, it’s been so hard to create, not just goals against them, it’s been so hard to create shots on target against them.
“And Sunderland were lucky enough that both the shots they had on target both went in the goal. I thought the Zubimendi foul was a little bit soft.
“I didn’t think it was a yellow card, but you can see why the referee probably looked at that and thought, yeah, that’s a foul. So I think Mikel Arteta’s reaction was maybe a little bit over the top to that.”