Did Arsenal show a lack of sportsmanship against Watford?

Who doesn’t like a touch of controversy? Well, normally, half of the involved parties do and as Emile Smith Rowe fired Arsenal in front against Watford there was an even split between elation and irritation.

From the home side’s perspective, the No. 10 notched his third goal in as many Premier League games to help Arsenal climb up to fifth in the table and extend their unbeaten run to ten matches in all competitions with another clean sheet. A fine day all round.

In the end the three points were deserved for Mikel Arteta’s side having controlled the game for long spells, only to be denied by a fine outing from Ben Foster. But, the visitors were left aggrieved.

Rightly so?

Did Arsenal show a lack of sportsmanship against Watford by not giving the ball back in the build up to Emile Smith Rowe’s goal?

In the build up to the 56th minute goal, Ozan Tufan was left on the floor after a clean tackle from Albert Sambi Lokonga with Arsenal building up the pitch. The referee saw no issue with the foul, likely undeterred by some clear play acting, and the play continued.

Bukayo Saka then loses possession that Danny Rose picks up, and with Tufan still on the floor, albeit far away from the Watford box, Rose deliberately kicks the ball out for a throw-in. As the ball is rolling out of play the Turkish midfielder is back up on his feet and making his way back towards his own goal.

Regardless of whether or not Tufan was fine, or if Rose was just trying to ease the pressure on his side and break down an Arsenal attack, the customary next step is to throw the ball back to the team who were in possession. Alexandre Lacazette doesn’t do this.

He throws the ball to Takehiro Tomiyasu with the Hornets players gesticulating and Kevin Friend uninterested in the situation. 21 seconds later the ball ends up in the back of Ben Foster’s net, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles possibly getting away with a foul in the build-up. That part is irrelevant to the case, though.

Claudio Ranieri was furious. And, as much as tribalism evokes a siege mentality, he was right to be so.

The incident has prompted its fair share of whataboutism. Mentions of how Tottenham scored against Arsenal when Granit Xhaka was lying in a heap on the ground, with a legitimate injury that he is still sidelined from, have emerged. All of which overlooks the honest truth, which is that Arsenal should have given the ball back to Watford.

But that isn’t the only talking point from the incident.

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Kicking the Ball Out of Play Has to Stop

It should be specified that kicking the ball out of play for players who blatantly are not injured should be eradicated from the game. Clearly designed to break up play and slow the pace down, what Watford did on this occasion was a prime example of it. It happens everywhere, not just in the Premier League.

Tufan had feigned injury, and it became even more egregious seeing Rose quite clearly shouting over to his teammate to stay down, accompanied with obvious hand motions instructing him to do so.

A part of the game that has been shrouded in controversy for some time, the referee is the man in charge and if they deem the incident not to be worthy of stopping play – head injuries prompt immediate stoppages – then players shouldn’t either.

Friend was right in front of the incident and could see that Sambi won the ball cleanly and that Tufan was not seriously hurt in any way: the player got up and walked off without even needing to leave the field of play.

It is a form of cheating.

However, the point remains that Lacazette should have thrown the ball back. If he didn’t then Tomiyasu should have passed it back.

If it would have happened the other way there would have been uproar. No two ways about it. As much as kicking the ball out of play for players blatantly faking injury is infuriating, it’s something everyone does. Heck, Lacazette does it.

And with all that said, perhaps the idea that Rose shouldn’t even have been on the pitch having committed four fouls without a booking lingered in the players’ minds. Perhaps too that Tufan was up and walking by the time Lacazette even took the throw in played its part. But Watford were in possession and kicked it out.

It should have been their ball, as much as it comes from deliberate attempts to break up play and slow the clock down.

The game is over now though, and do we care? No. It went Arsenal’s way. Nobody ever does bat an eyelid when it’s in your favour.