Van Persie blasts “joke” referee for destroying Arsenal’s Europe dream
March 9th, 2011 - 4:28 pm ICT by ANI
London, Mar 9 (ANI): Ace striker Robin van Persie, who was given a second yellow card during the game against Barcelona, has blasted the “joke” referee for destroying Arsenal’s Champions League dream.
Referee Massimo Busacca gave Van Persie a second yellow for kicking the ball away - only moments after blowing the whistle.
At the time Arsenal were level with Barcelona, who went on to win 3-1.
“It had a big influence on the outcome - at 1-1 it was all to play for - and it was a total joke because how can I hear his whistle with 95,000 people jumping up?” The Sun quoted Van Persie, as asking.
“There was only one second from his whistle to my shot and it is a joke. I explained it to him but he had been bad all evening,” he said.
Boss Arsene Wenger said: “We lost against a good team. In the first half we resisted pressure - I think the second would have been very interesting if we had stayed 11 against 11 - unfortunately it was not the case.
“There are regrets when you see how we went out - the way we did, it is very difficult to accept.” (ANI)
- Wenger accuses referee of destroying Arsenal's Champions League dream - Mar 09, 2011
- 'Referee almost hit Wenger after touchline row' - Mar 10, 2011
- I don't even listen to what UEFA says: Wenger - Mar 18, 2011
- Wenger says gamble on Arshavin paid off in amazing style in historic defeat of Barca - Feb 17, 2011
- Van Persie likely to miss friendly match - Feb 29, 2012
- Keep distance from Van Persie, Wenger tells Manchester City - Oct 01, 2011
- Fighting Arsenal bow out of Champions League - Mar 07, 2012
- Arsenal has no plans to part with Fabregas, Wilshere: Wenger - Apr 24, 2011
- Arsenal's van Persie out for six weeks with knee injury - Mar 02, 2011
- Arsene fears more players will leave Arsenal - Sep 24, 2011
- Arsenal's Wenger says UK Premier League title race not over - Apr 11, 2011
- Dalglish told Wenger to 'p*** off' - Apr 18, 2011
- Netherlands can go all the way: Van Persie - Jun 27, 2010
- Champions League: Barcelona held by Milan, Arsenal by Dortmund - Sep 14, 2011
- Gunners goalkeeper Szczesny out of action with tendon injury - Mar 11, 2011
Tags: ace, arsenal, barcelona, blasts, blowing the whistle, boss arsene wenger, champions league, europe, game, joke, league dream, london, massimo busacca, referee, regrets, robin van persie, sun, win 3, yellow card