LONDON: Mikel Arteta side-stepped a fresh VAR row after 10-man Arsenal ignored Fabio Vieira’s red card to beat Burnley 3-1 on Saturday.
Arsenal midfielder Vieira was sent off in the closing stages at the Emirates Stadium for a high challenge on Josh Brownhill.
It was the kind of flashpoint that could have provoked another angry reaction from Arteta.
The Gunners boss is waiting to discover if he will face a Football Association charge after he criticized the officials following last weekend’s controversial 1-0 loss at Newcastle.
Arteta was asked to provide his observations to the FA having labelled Anthony Gordon’s goal “embarrassing” and a “disgrace” after VAR gave it despite a clear foul by Newcastle’s Joelinton.
But the Spaniard opted against any more rants, largely because the Vieira decision was hard to argue with and Arsenal took the win anyway to move level on points with leaders Manchester City.
“With the red card... yes, VAR was right, he said.
“The referee was right. Really good decision, really positive from Mikel to speak about that! Good decision.
“Please ask me about VAR because today it was good. I hope that I’m on TV saying the referees are so good and I’m completely with them and being very constructive.”
Brownhill had canceled out Leandro Trossard’s opener, which ranked as Arsenal’s 1,000th goal at the Emirates since their move from Highbury in 2006.
William Saliba headed Arsenal back in front before Oleksandr Zinchenko secured the points with an acrobatic volley.
Trossard was the difference-maker for the Gunners, the Belgium international once again starting as the central striker in the absence of the injured Gabriel Jesus.
Trossard also laid on the corner from which Saliba scored and it was another set-piece from the former Brighton star that led to Zinchenko’s eye-catching scissor-kick.
“I think he connects everybody. He’s so intelligent,” Arteta said of Trossard.
“I think he moves in ways that attracts people that generates spaces and options for people.
“Today he did that really good because it was so difficult and the spaces were so small to attack. He gave us a lot of threat and possibilities to connect and find spaces for us.
“He put your body on the line if it’s necessary, and that was it. It’s the 1,000th goal at the Emirates — a beautiful number.
“I’m very happy with him. I think every time you ask him to play whether it’s wide or as a nine, it flows and he has a real threat. So, I’m really happy with him.”
Arteta avoids fresh VAR row as Arsenal cruise despite red card
https://arab.news/cj4qa
Arteta avoids fresh VAR row as Arsenal cruise despite red card
- Arsenal midfielder Vieira was sent off in the closing stages at the Emirates Stadium
- It was the kind of flashpoint that could have provoked another angry reaction from Arteta
Morocco banish any doubts about ability to host World Cup 2030
- Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the 24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time
RABAT: Morocco’s successful staging of the Africa Cup of Nations means there should be no skepticism about its ability to co-host the World Cup with Portugal and Spain in 2030, even if Sunday’s final was clouded by a walk-off and defeat for the home team.
Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the
24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time.
Morocco plans to use six venues in 2030 and five of them were used for the Cup of Nations, providing world-class playing surfaces and a spectacular backdrop.
The Grande Stade in Tangier with a 75,000 capacity is an impressive facility in the northern coastal city, less than an hour’s ferry ride from Spain.
Meanwhile, FIFA President Gianni Infantino condemned "some Senegal players" for the "unacceptable scenes" which overshadowed their victory in the final when they left the pitch in protest at a penalty awarded to Morocco.
African football's showpiece event was marred by most of the Senegal team walking off when, deep into injury time of normal play and with the match locked at 0-0, Morocco were awarded a spot-kick following a VAR check by referee Jean-Jacques Ndala for a challenge on Brahim Diaz.
security personnel at the other end of the stadium, Senegal's players eventually returned to the pitch to see Diaz shoot a soft penalty into the arms of their goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
The match was played at the Stade Moulay Abdellah in the capital Rabat, which has a capacity of 69,500. The attendance for the final was 66,526.
Stadiums in Agadir, Fes and Marrakech were also more than adequate and will now be renovated over the next few years.
But the crowning glory is the proposed 115,000-capacity Stade Hassan II on the outskirts of Casablanca which Morocco hope will be chosen to host the final over Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
In all, Morocco will spend $1.4 billion on the six stadiums. Also planned is extensive investment in airports, with some 10 Moroccan cities already running direct air links to Europe and many budget airlines offering flights to the country.
An extension of Africa’s only high-speed rail service, which already provides a comfortable three-hour ride from Tangier to Casablanca, further south to Agadir and Marrakech is also planned. Morocco hopes all of this will modernize its cities and boost the economy.
On the field, Morocco will hope to launch a credible challenge for a first African World Cup success, although on Sunday they continued their poor return in the Cup of Nations, where their only triumph came 50 years ago.
They surprised with a thrilling run to the last four at the Qatar 2022 World Cup as the first African nation to get that far and will hope for a similar impact at this year’s finals in North America. They are in Group C with Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.
