Cesc Fabregas watched Manchester City’s 2-1 win at Arsenal on New Year’s Day and the former Gunners captain was not impressed by some of the officiating.
Spanish midfielder Fabregas, who now plays for AS Monaco, expressed his discontent on Twitter after City were given a penalty which saw them level the game at 1-1.
Granit Xhaka was eventually punished for an apparent foul on Bernardo Silva, who seemed more than happy to fall to the ground inside Arsenal’s 18-yard box after feeling his shirt being pulled.
Referee Stuart Attwell did not originally point to the spot. But after being told by the VAR to review the incident at the pitchside monitor, he gave the penalty, which was converted by Riyad Mahrez.
Fabregas was not having it though. He tweeted: “That’s never a pen. Terrible decision.”
That’s never a pen. Terrible decision.
— Cesc Fàbregas Soler (@cesc4official) January 1, 2022
Fabregas famously played for Chelsea and Arsenal.
He spent four and a half seasons at Stamford Bridge, three years after leaving Arsenal – where he had been captain – for Barcelona.
Whether Fabregas was watching Saturday’s game as a Chelsea fan or an Arsenal supporter, he will have been disappointed by the result.
Rodri’s late winner dealt a big blow to Chelsea’s hopes of overhauling City in the race for the Premier League title.
The result left Chelsea 11 points behind leaders City ahead of their game in hand, which is against Liverpool on Sunday.
For Arsenal, the defeat saw them concede ground to Tottenham in the battle for the top four. Spurs rubbed salt into Arsenal wounds later in the day by scoring a 96th-minute winner at Watford.