Harry Redknapp Accuses Samir Nasri Of Diving For Crucial Carling Cup Penalty

Chris Wright

22nd, September 2010

16 Comments

By Chris Wright

With the scores level at 1-1 after 90 minutes, Tottenham eventually went down 4-1 at home to Arsenal in the Carling Cup last night thanks to a three-goal extra-time salvo.

After Henri Lansbury opened the scoring with his first senior goal for Arsenal, Spurs’ half-time substitute Robbie Keane restored parity shortly after the break – evading an offside trap and dribbling the ball past Lukas Fabianski‘s limp-wristed dive.

As normal time wore on Spurs arguably had the better chances to sneak the win, but two minutes into extra-time the course of the game swung decisively in Arsenal’s favour as Samir Nasri won (tumbling very easily after having his feathers ruffled by Sebastien Bassong) and dispatched a penalty to restore the Gunners’ lead.

Arsenal were awarded a second penalty just four minutes later when Steven Caulker hauled back Marouane Chamakh, and Nasri again did the honours – rolling the ball home after sending Stipe Pletikosa the wrong way.

The fairly comfortable win was rounded off in the 105th minute, when Andrey Arshavin drilled home an angled finish but, despite the damning scoreline, it was Nasri’s willingness to hit the deck that seemed to be the focus of Spurs manager Harry Redknapp‘s ire after the game;

“I thought the first penalty was harsh. I thought Nasri dived. The second was blatant. It was Caulker’s first appearance anywhere near this level and was a good experience for him.”

Bassong, the player that ‘fouled’ Nasri to concede the spot-kick, was equally condemning of the French midfielder’s actions;

“He told me afterwards that I barely touched him. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I touched Nasri’s chest but I did not grab him. I have seen the video and from my point of view it was not a penalty.”

Posted in Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur

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16 Comments

  1. Ollie Irish says:

    Arsenal deserved to win, to be honest. But it was a dive.

  2. Tinez says:

    This is ridiculous. Maybe ‘Arry should concentrate on not letting his players’ heads go down once they started losing in extra time.

  3. Charles says:

    Harry seems to suffer from selective memory loss. Couple of points from last nights match:
    We had a clear penalty shout turned down by the ref in the 1st half
    We had a clear goal-bound opportunity ruled an offside while in actual fact it wasn’t
    Spurs’ goal was a clear off-side
    Nasri was actually fouled leading to the first penalty
    And yes, we humiliated Spur in their backyard.

  4. Stroller says:

    What are Redknapp and Bassong moaning about ? There was clearly contact between the players and a tug on Nasri’s shirt by Bassong. Old Red Chops is merely trying to deflect from the fact that his team was outplayed for most of the game. No mention of the blatant first half penalty turned down for the foul on Lansbury, the offside wrongly given against Gibbs when he was clean through, and the fact that Keane was offside for their goal.

  5. Vince says:

    I’m so sick for those who said the 1st penalty was won by a dive. If it was a dive, Nasri will get a yellow card, but it was a penalty so it was a foul. You cannot doubt on the ref who gave a offside goal to Spuds, he really have no choice…
    Btw, we won at Spuds home, White Hate Lane, its not their backyard, hahaha

  6. Pedro says:

    So you’re clear through, the defender’s movement impedes yours however lightly without getting anywhere near of the ball and subsequently gaining an advantageous position to put a tackle in but you’re supposed to shift your body around to try and keep on your feet, thereby wasting time that you could be using to prepare a shot and giving your opponent even more time to set himself for a last ditch block? Nonsense. This is exactly why I refuse to condemn “divers” that much, in the vast majority of cases, they are actually being fouled and why the whole debate is silly and misguided. A bit like the late tackle debate, where apparently if you mistime a challenge you’re immediately out to hurt your opponent.

  7. MikeSA says:

    Some corrections need to be made to all the usual drivel in the media:

    1. Nasri was tripped, not pushed for the penalty, it was a very clear ankle tap – nothing “soft” about it – and I have serious doubts whether Nasri would have the discussion claimed by the sp*rs culprit

    2. Gibbs was wrongly called offside in the first half so we should have been 2-0 up at half time.

    3. Robbie Keane was clearly off-side for his “goal” (2 shocking calls by the same linesman who wasn’t properly in line for either of them), so a 2 goal swing on incorrect decisions anyway.

    4. Arsenal were so dominant in the first half spurs might as well have not been there – totally different class – no wonder the Arsenal fans were singing “Champions League, you’re having a laugh”

    5. Spurs had a few good chances, not “the better” chances, Arsenal still dominated totally in the second half as well apart from about 5 minutes after the Keane non-goal.

  8. Eduardo says:

    The author of this article and twitchy and bassong and anyone else who think it was not a penalty need to either have their eyes or heads tested. Bassong even has the gaul to lie about it, sky replays clearly show bassong pull nasri’s shirt, so stop your whinging – oh sorry only wenger whinges – and accept you spuds are still in arsenal’s shadow, those squd claims of a bigger club, better squad really are even more funny this morning

  9. ant says:

    hard for spurs to swallow that arsenal are still miles better than them. that 2-1 spurs win was a fluke, we had all our best defenders,midfielders & strikers injured . even the 5-1 loss was because we had too many naive youngsters.
    and spare me that shit that spurs were without their top players , we had better players sidelined.
    they have no answer for the football we play.

  10. Dominic says:

    Sorry but Bassong admits he “touched” Nasri in the chest. that’s a foul and in the area it’s a penalty. Try telling the referee “I barely touched the ball” when you are in the penalty area and see where it gets you.

  11. Patrick says:

    no excuses Arry! Arsenal were completely unplayable for the entire first half, had the spurs chasing shadows for the full 45 minutes, Jack Wilshere was simply outstanding and if it wasnt for good ol Flappyhandski Arsenal would have won it anyway, so Arry? How are your clearance sale purchases working out so far?

  12. Antspur says:

    Both teams made 9 changes, neither team were at there best, your team on the day beat our team on the day, congratulations Scummers.

  13. […] accuses Arsenal's Samir Nasri of divingIMScoutingMirrorFootball.co.uk -Goal.com -Who Ate All The Piesall 1,378 news […]

  14. goonerdan says:

    Samir Nasri,NASRI! Saaamir Nase-ri NANANANANA!

  15. Whosyadaddy says:

    Grapes. Sour. Moving along….

  16. burgy says:

    even if the call wasnt made, arsenal still would have won 3-1 haha. just dont like to see a close game decided on a call like that, but this game wasnt even close

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