VAR stole some of the headlines as the first leg of Arsenal's Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea ended goalless at Stamford Bridge.
In some ways I think the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is a good thing as it will help reduce controversy and wrong decisions ruining big matches. But the flip side is the delay that it causes as the time taken to reach the decision was maybe longer than most would have wanted. At least it meant no penalty decisions cost us this time, but here is my take on them!
Referee Martin Atkinson referred to the VAR after Victor Moses caught Ainsley Maitland-Niles boot in the first half. The decision was no penalty and I have to say I agree with the decision even though it went against us. There was maybe a very slight clip of the boot, but definitely not enough contact. VAR was needed again very late in the second half after Danny Welbeck's challenge on Cesc Fabregas, which again resulted in a no penalty decision. Fabgregas didn't seem to appeal much at the time and that's because I don't think it was a foul and there wasn't really that much in it.
The decision for Alexis Sanchez not to be included in the starting line-up also raised several eyebrows. After not being in the squad at all in the FA Cup defeat at Nottingham Forest I was sure he would start, and being forced to settle for a place on the bench made many wonder if there was more truth in the rumours linking him with a move to Manchester City. Arsene Wenger's post-match comments indicate it was nothing to do with transfers and it was more a case of needing to defend more and to bring him on for the last 30 minutes. Regardless of tactics and what the competition is, this was a semi-final and he shouldn't be left out. Obviously I hope he stays, despite him not being in the best of form of late, but I'm not sure whether he will...time will tell!
Wenger also confirmed after the match that Francis Coquelin will join Valencia. Although he hasn't been in the team as much of late and we can't blame him for leaving to get more game time, it is sad to see him go. When he returned from a loan spell at Charlton and burst into the first team he put in a string of solid displays and, if it hadn't been for Jack Wilshere's return to the side, I would have been calling for him to start a lot more. He will be a loss so we best make sure we replace him. Speaking of Wilshere, he limped off shortly before the hour mark, although Wenger doesn't think the ankle injury seems too bad at first glance so let's hope he isn't out for very long. Either way Wenger absolutely must enter the transfer market and bring in a few players before the end of the month!
As for the match, a goalless draw away at the Bridge is a pretty decent result. Yes, it means we didn't get an away goal, but in two games at Stamford Bridge this season Chelsea have failed to score against us and at least the defence was a lot more solid than it was in the recent shambles at Nottingham Forest.
Both sides had chances in the first half, but it was Arsenal's David Ospina who was the busier of the two goalkeepers. Alvaro Morata shot into the side netting from a tight angle before Ospina twice denied Moses.
At the other end Alexandre Lacazette blazed an effort over the crossbar following a fine pass by Wilshere, while Alex Iwobi's strike was acrobatically pushed away by Thibaut Courtois in the Chelsea goal.
Moses' challenge on Maitland-Niles was then referred to VAR before Chelsea wasted the final chance of the first half. Cesar Azpilicueta crossed for Fabregas, who had time and space to get a decent header in, but his effort was straight into the arms of Ospina.
N'Golo Kante saw a powerful shot blocked by one of his own players early in the second half before very nearly setting up a goal. The French midfielder's cross was flicked on by Marcos Alonso before Andreas Christensen somehow sent his header over the crossbar.
Morata's shot from outside the box was well parried by Ospina before the Colombia international raced out to prevent the Spanish striker from scoring soon after.
Ospina nearly gifted Chelsea a goal when he came out and missed a corner, but an unchallenged Christensen sent his header wide.
Although Chelsea were having the better of the chances, Arsenal were still very much in the match so it was a shame to see Iwobi poorly waste his opportunity. Iwobi ran at the defence and got himself into a good position, but his shot didn't match the build-up as it tamely rolled straight at Courtois.
Chelsea continued to create chances with Willian's shot outside the box forcing a diving catch from Ospina before Arsenal's number two goalkeeper got down well to save Alonso's long-range effort. At the other end Granit Xhaka tried his luck from long-range, but his effort was comfortably saved by Courtois.
As the match entered it's final minutes Fabregas' low ball in was deflected onto a post and behind before VAR deemed that Welbeck's challenge on the Spanish midfielder was fair, so the game ended goalless.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Chelsea fan John Feeney believes it was a complete contrast to the more entertaining league match the two sides had played out earlier this month.
"It was quite a tame game in comparison to the league match as both teams were sloppy and gave away a lot of possession," said Feeney. "Arsenal were generally the more defensive of the two teams and stuck to their game plan well - Mustafi and Xhaka stopped quite a few breaks and half chances.
"Chelsea still had some good chances to win the game such as Christensen having two clear headers on goal and will be disappointed to not build a first leg lead, especially as Arsenal had more of their first choice players missing."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
We didn't get an away goal, but we also stopped Chelsea scoring, so the semi-final tie is still very much alive ahead of the second leg at the Emirates.
Chelsea are more than capable of scoring in the second leg, which would give them an away goal, so we need to make sure our attacking game is much better in the next meeting.
It was good to see the defence much tighter and a goalless draw against the Premier League champions is a decent result, but we didn't do enough in attack and need to hope that home advantage wakes our forward players up more in the second leg.
This semi-final is still very hard to call and I have no idea which way it will go, but at least we have given ourselves hope and not faded out with a whimper like we did in the FA Cup recently.
The prospect of silverware, albeit a smaller trophy in the League Cup, is still possible so let's keep our fingers crossed that we can reach the Wembley final.
We must now focus our attention back on the Premier League. Sixth place and 23 points away from leaders Manchester City is quite frankly not good enough. We are two points off bitter rivals Tottenham and five off fourth-placed Liverpool, so if we are to have any hope of a top four finish nothing other than two wins will do from the next two matches against Bournemouth and Crystal Palace.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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