Arsenal fans and a cry for refereeing conspiracy never seem far apart, but on Saturday it went to an extreme when the Gunners locked horns with Sunderland in the English Premier League.
Martin Atkinson was the match official for their weekend trip to the Stadium of Lights, as Wenger’s boys looked to forget about last week’s 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough by putting the Black Cats to the sword.
Unfortunately, it proved difficult – until Olivier Giroud came on, that is – due to the north London outfit’s misfiring. However, Arsenal supporters were unhappy with their attacker, but were angrier at another person: Atkinson.
The Gunners fans were upset with the referee, as they felt that Atkinson should have been stricter with the Sunderland players due to the barrage of unpleasant tackles the Arsenal boys endured.
Fury towards Atkinson bold to its highest point when he refused to award Alexis Sanchez a penalty after being tugged in the penalty box only to award the home side a spot kick almost immediately afterwards.
Defoe scored and drew Sunderland level, but Arsenal eventually marched away with a 4-1 win. Fans were still fuming even after the final whistle. Check out the best tweets.
Solid win. Could've & really should've been more. Sunderland were bad, Atkinson was worse. Some bizarre decisions.
— Paddy Corkscrew (@rabal) October 29, 2016
Really hope the @FA review Martin Atkinson's performance today. Bad refereeing decisions significantly impact games. Atrocious.
— 1886 (@1886_blog) October 29, 2016
Martin Atkinson 1
— REDaction Gooners (@REDactionAFC) October 29, 2016
Arsenal 4
Sunderland's Man of the Match so far is MARTIN ATKINSON.
— Danny Welbeck (@WelBeast) October 29, 2016
Atkinson's done more for Sunderland than Moyes has all season
— GunnerPumpkin (@gunnerpunner) October 29, 2016
Martin Atkinson in championship next week
— Sam (@samuelJayC) October 29, 2016
Blatant penalty denied by Atkinson smh #Arsenal #SAFCvAFC
— ArsenalFanTV (@ArsenalFanTV) October 29, 2016
Referee definitely a Sunderland fan
— Sam (@samuelJayC) October 29, 2016
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