West Brom 1 Arsenal 1: Host grabs late equaliser with controversial penalty
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Arsene Wenger has claimed a record of 811 Premier League games and will almost certainly reflect on this landmark with another tirade at an official.
Wenger and referees have endured a fractious relationship during his 21 years as Arsenal manager and Mike Dean’s dreadful decision to award West Bromwich Albion a late penalty will stick in the craw of the Frenchman.
Calum Chambers was penalised for an apparent handball in the 89th minute and Jay Rodriguez put away the spot kick to move Albion off the bottom of the table.
It had appeared that Arsenal would secure their manager a late victory after Alexis Sanchez’s deflected free kick, with the Chilean attacker pursued to the corner flag in what appeared a clear message of unity.
Surrounded by nine of his Arsenal team-mates, this goal celebration certainly killed off the conspiracy theories after that incident at Crystal Palace.
But it was the wild scenes sparked by the home team’s late response equaliser that iritate Wenger as he passed Sir Alex Ferguson’s record.
This draw extends Albion’s run to 19 league games without a win but there were positives for Alan Pardew to take.
Arsenal’s last visit to the Hawthorns resulted in a full-on Tony Pulis bombardment of set pieces and aggression. That 3-1 defeat was at a time when the future of Wenger was still shrouded in fog, with the game played against a backdrop noise of propellers as a plane with an uncomplimentary message attached to it hovered overhead.
Not much has changed since then, with the tiresome contract situations of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez still dominating the Arsenal agenda.
Albion, meanwhile, are in deep trouble under Pulis’ successor Alan Pardew but started the brighter. Jay Rodriguez tested Petr Cech with a header from close range after seven minutes and winger Matt Phillips had the beating of Sead Kolasinac.
Arsenal, playing in an unsightly all-red kit for first time in nearly 40 years, eventually settled and began to dominate possession, without ever exerting any sustained pressure. Alex Iwobi, in for the injured Ozil, almost found the top corner before forcing a scrappy save from Ben Foster.
It was a strangely lifeless affair, though, with both teams lacking intensity and drive. Albion sorely needs to find a new striker now the January transfer window is open for business.
Arsenal’s £52.7m signing Alexandre Lacazette almost shattered the tedium on the hour when he was given far too much space to advance into the area but his shot was straight at Foster.
Two minutes later, Lacazette almost poked the ball in at the near post after Sanchez’s clever pass.
The biggest cheer of the afternoon from the Arsenal end so far came when Iwobi was taken off after another bitterly disappointing performance.
Sanchez’s free kick, taking a deflection off substitute James McClean, threatened to secure three points but then Dean took centre stage.
Rodriguez scored, only the third goal in Pardew’s seven games, to provide the strugglers with a lift ahead of Tuesday’s trip to West Ham.
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