With Arsenal losing to Liverpool in the FA Cup Third Round, I watched the Fourth Round games with some sheer grumpiness as Bournemouth decimated Swansea on Thursday, before settling to watch the marquee fixture of the round, Tottenham vs. Manchester City. As expected the away side dominated the proceedings and got the goal their play deserved that saw them through to the next round.
The defeat also meant that Tottenham weren’t going to finish the campaign with a trophy, which is a very Spursy thing, so meh.
Elsewhere, we have been notified that the second goal in the Arsenal thrashing of Crystal Palace has been credited to Gabriel, instead of the Dean Henderson own goal that was the verdict on the day.
Under the protocols for the Premier League Goal Accreditation Panel, when there is doubt over the identification of the scorer, it is reviewed by a three-person panel at the Premier League Match Centre. They determined that Gabriel’s header was not going in until it struck Henderson, thus accrediting it as an own goal by the Palace ‘keeper.
However, Arsenal appealed against the decision and, as per the Premier League’s protocol for goal appeals, the incident was considered by a further panel of three football experts, the Premier League’s Goal Accreditation Appeals Panel.
This panel have determined that the goal should be credited to Gabriel.
In as much as I’m happy for Gabriel that strangely has the same number of goals with his compatriot, Gabriel Jesus, I’m kinda pissed off because of the Fantasy Premier League implications of the goal. What we thought was a Gabriel brace and clean sheet (21 points) alongside a Bukayo Saka assist (6 points) turned out to be a Gabriel goal, assist and clean sheet (17 points) with a Saka blank (3 points).
I’m just being petty, but hey, we all need a bit of pettiness from time to time.
Speaking of pettiness, I am actually gladdened with the news that Liverpool’s manager, Jurgen Klopp, has confirmed that he will be leaving the club at the end of this campaign, citing his lack of energy as the main reason he wants to take a sabbatical break from the beautiful game.
Those that are good at discerning would know that he’s taking the way from the consistent struggle with the juggernaut known as Manchester City for Premier League glory. Thankfully he managed to seal the club’s first league title in 30 years in the COVID-hit season, but his exit paves the way for a new era, which the ITKs are earmarking as the Xabi Alonso era.
Alonso is doing wonders at Bayer Leverkusen and his potential announcement feels like a Mikel Arteta-esque appointment, but he will need to make plans for the aging Liverpool squad that will need some overhauling.
That’s a problem for another day but we can celebrate what Klopp has done with the Reds and hope that the Gunners put a good dent on their title challenge when we meet in the coming weeks.
Sayonara.
