Manchester United legend and pundit Gary Neville has sounded the alarm over the recurring theme of blaming the referee in the Premier League, saying game officials need protection, too.
The comments came after Arsenal became the latest club to express dissatisfaction with officiating. The Gunners organization called for urgent action for what they thought were poor and unacceptable standards of refereeing in the league.
Arsenal lost to Newcastle United over the weekend, pushing down to fourth in the table.
Liverpool also made a similar commentary on the game officials a month ago.
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Neville thought these clubs should know better and called the league to take action on the attacks against the referees.
"They were hard done by for Luis Diaz's disallowed goal," he said through Sky Sports.
"The day after Liverpool wrote their statement mentioning 'sporting integrity' and looking at all options and suggested a replay. I thought it was quite dangerous. Arsenal's statement was quite dangerous too."
Arsenal livid over Magpies' game-winning goal
The latest play in question that earned the ire of Arsenal and their fans was the goal of Anthony Gordon in the 64th minute. It was the lone goal of the match and put the Gunners more spots behind the top of the table.
It took the referees four minutes to review whether the goal was legitimate. The officials questioned whether the ball went out of play, Joelinton committed a foul, or Gordon was offside before making the shot.
The referees decided it was a goal, and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta could not hide his frustration post-game. He said the call was a disgrace and embarrassing.
The club stood by their manager's fiery comments.
"The Premier League is the best league in the world with the best players, coaches and supporters, all of whom deserve better," they said in a statement.
"PGMOL urgently needs to address the standard of officiating and focus on action which moves us all on from retrospective analysis, attempted explanations and apologies."
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