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Arsenal fans cannot believe ‘appalling’ 41st minute incident involving Fulham player, they are furious
Arsenal endured a tough afternoon at Craven Cottage on Sunday in difficult conditions – against a strong Fulham side.
Marco Silva watched his Cottagers go 1-0 up after just 11 minutes thanks to a fine finish from Raul Jimenez, who ultimately saw his opener cancelled out by William Saliba in the 52nd minute, as Arsenal scored yet another corner.
It was the 23rd time Arsenal have scored a corner in the Premier League since the start of last season.
However – before the Gunners equalised – there was an interesting moment in the 41st minute involving Calvin Bassey which has infuriated Arsenal fans online.
Arsenal fans livid as Chris Kavanagh lets Calvin Bassey off
In the 41st minute, the Fulham No.3 could be seen delaying the restart, running away while holding the ball despite Arsenal being awarded a throw-in.
The Cottagers were not organised at the back at the time, meaning Arsenal could have caught them off guard with a quick throw, although Bassey prevented that from happening as he refused to hand the ball back.
Despite that, Chris Kavanagh, who Arsenal fans will recall sent Declan Rice off for delaying the restart against Brighton in a 1-1 draw earlier this season, decided to take no action against the Nigeria international.
Mikel Arteta also saw his side penalised for delaying the restart once again during the 2-2 draw against Manchester City in September, as Michael Oliver dismissed Leandro Trossard for kicking the ball away.
Understandably, Arsenal supporters on X (previously known as Twitter) were flabbergasted at the lack of consistency on show, especially as it was Kavanagh, who, as aforesaid, was the referee who dismissed Rice with a second yellow for the same offence Bassey committed.
The inconsistency is appalling
— Nyambane (@VNyambane)
Chris Kavanagh had no excuse, and Mikel Arteta must have been pulling his hair out
While it seems like a minor incident in the grand scheme of things, a booking for Bassey – who Arsenal wanted before Oleksandr Zinchenko – would have left him walking a tightrope for over 45 minutes, up against the likes of Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.
The 24-year-old was eventually booked in the second half for dragging Havertz down to kill an attack for the Gunners, a luxury he would not have been able to afford had Kavanagh taken the action he should’ve in the 41st minute.
Football is a game of fine details, and Arteta would have been incredibly disappointed to see Bassey escape unpunished after what happened to Rice and Trossard earlier this season.