Former Premier League referee Howard Webb claims that the Gunners should have been given a spot kick for Javier Mascherano's trip on Alex Iwobi
Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty in their 3-1 defeat to Barcelona, according to former Premier League and World Cup referee Howard Webb.
The Gunners were trailing when Alex Iwobi was clipped by Javier Mascherano as he was running into Barcelona’s area, but Russian referee Sergei Karasev waved play on.
Mohamed Elneny had cancelled out Neymar’s opener before a stunning strike from Luis Suarez and a neat finish from close range from Lionel Messi wrapped up the victory for the Champions League holders.
“On first viewing, I thought Iwobi clipped his own heels, but when we look at it a bit closer, we see Mascherano actually makes contact with the left leg of Iwobi, which causes that leg to go onto his own heel,” Webb told BT Sport.
“Mascherano has a duty of care not to be careless, not to cause that contact, would Iwobi have gone down if Mascherano has not been there? No he wouldn’t. He would have stayed on his feet.
“For me, that’s a foul, doesn’t have to be intentional, just careless, it’s maybe just on the line so I think it’s a penalty.”
- Goal