Arsenal fans absolutely fuming with Mike Dean as ref denies Gunners TWO penalties… and then books Freddie Ljungberg
ARSENAL fans ripped into Mike Dean after he denied them TWO penalties – then booked Freddie Ljungberg.
The assistant coach, 42, received a yellow card in the Premier League for the first time since 2008 as the Gunners lost 1-0 to Sheffield United.
Dean waved away Arsenal’s first penalty call when John Egan appeared to foul Sokratis in the box from a corner.
The Greek defender crashed to the ground, but the veteran official did not point to the spot.
Arsenal were also unsuccessful when they appealed for another penalty when Bukayo Saka went down in the area.
Instead, Dean booked the 18-year-old for diving and awarded the free kick in United’s favour.
MARK HALSEY'S VIEW
MIKE DEAN got it right by not awarding Arsenal a first-half penalty at Sheffield United.
But I felt the referee made the wrong decision by cautioning Bukayo Saka.
The Arsenal attacker was running at pace and any minimal contact can make you lose your balance.
I didn’t think Sako tried to deceive Dean with an act of simulation.
Dean overreacted and yellow carded Sako to try and justify his decision of not giving a penalty.
He didn’t need to do that and he simply should have waved play on.
Arsenal coach Freddie Ljungberg overstepped the mark with his protests but fourth official Simon Hooper should have managed the situation better.
Dean was also spot on when he cautioned United’s David McGoldrick in the second half for a blatant act of simulation.
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Ljungberg jumped to the defence of Arsenal’s youngster, so the no-nonsense rolled back the years and booked him too.
Arsenal fans decided to vent their anger on social media – with some even branding the 51-year-old a “cheat”.
One said: “This tells me Mike Dean does hate Arsenal, that’s a penalty in my opinion.”
Another questioned: “How did Mike Dean not see that? Especially from where he was standing?”
While one said: “So it’s a free kick for a shirt pull on the halfway line but not in the penalty box? Mike Dean is a ****.”
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Dean has been accused by Arsenal fans of making “massive mistakes” in previous matches and infamously “celebrated” a Tottenham goal scored against Aston Villa.
And an official government petition by Gooners in 2015 saw them try to ban Dean from refereeing their games in the future.
Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal fans at Bramall Lane after Lys Mousset opened the scoring in the 30th minute.