Hleb hits out at 'monstrous' mistakes

Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb has slammed the refereeing of some of the Gunners' games recently, labelling it "monstrous".

Hleb: Has been left flabbergasted
Hleb: Has been left flabbergasted

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was left reeling after he felt two key decisions cost his side a place in the Champions League semi-finals.

Arsenal were denied a penalty in the first leg of the quarter-final clash against Liverpool when Dirk Kuyt appeared to fell Hleb in the penalty area.

The Frenchman's misery was compounded when the Reds were awarded a late penalty in the second leg as referee Peter Frojdfeldt pointed to the spot after Kolo Toure tangled with Ryan Babel.

And Hleb has echoed his manager's disappointment, while highlighting March's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea as a case in point.

He told the Daily Mail: "The Premier League is a very tough competition. Yes, the game is fast and beautiful, but there are also quite a lot of bad tackles and crudeness, and recently also monstrous refereeing mistakes.

"Chelsea scored a goal against us from an obvious offside position but the referee allowed it. And we scored a goal which was very important for us but it was disallowed for a non-existent offside."

The Belarus international also lamented team-mate Eduardo's injury, which is likely to keep him out until the end of the year after Birmingham's Martin Taylor broke the Croatian's leg.

"There are quite a lot of bone-breaking players here," Hleb added. "English referees are very liberal to them. They do it because they know there will be no real punishment.

"Eduardo is out for a year, maybe more. His future is under a question mark. The guy who did it was only disqualified for three games. Is it an adequate punishment?"

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Your Comments

Riaz Charania (Arsenal fan)

"Mistake after mistake virtually every week now. We would have gained 10 points in the EPL and would be in the semi of the ECL. I agree AW has totally messed up by not spending and the team have obvious and major weaknesses but regardless of this we would be very well placed for the double."

shakkey (Arsenal fan)

"the phrase "six of one and half a dozen of the other" shouldn't apply...it makes a mockery of the the professional game of football...for example, if a ref gives a erroneous penalty and then to square it up, gives a penalty to the other side...same with players getting sent off...the ref should make the correct decision not hope that it evens itself off over the season...BARMY"

mortiman

"maybe you should stop diving and you will get some respect"

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