Arsenal-Hull: Arsenal Win Despite Abysmal Refereeing

Arsenal almost lost their chances in the title race, courtesy of some abysmal refereeing decisions by the match official.

Arsenal scored through a beautiful team build-up play, and then Arshavin, with a lot of skill and a little bit of luck, was able to finish off the ball in the back of the net.

People thought that from there it would be all Arsenal, but Hull stuck at it and tried to make anything happen.

Later on in the first half, some pathetic refereeing decisions almost cost Arsenal their challenge for the EPL title when the match official gave Hull a penalty.

Replays showed that not only was Sol Campbell's foul on the Dutch striker Vennegoor a soft and generous decision from an incompetent referee, but that Vennegoor was offside in the first place, a terrible call from the linesman.

That decision proved, along with the many mistakes English referees make, most notably Howard Webb's decision to not give Tottenham a clear penalty today, that as it stands, English referees aren't good enough to have a referee in the World Cup.

To prove a point, for those who didn't watch today's game, Hull City's stadium is not just for football. It's also for rugby, making the stadium have more lines similar to that of the mid-field, making it even easier to judge whether players are offside or not.

When the ball was passed to Vennegoor, the player was obviously offside; he was standing on the edge of the penalty box, while Vermaelen and Campbell were standing on one of the rugby lines.

But amazingly, the referee not only ruled him onside, but also awarded him a penalty for his efforts, and also gave Campbell a yellow card.

Later on, Hull started to attack, and actually tried to score again; after the penalty, they started showing some attacking flare.

Hull kept playing their ugly, aggressive game and looked like injuring the Arsenal players.

The tackles, along with the phantom penalty rewarded, made this all feel like Birmingham again. Arsenal were not playing their game.

Hull then tackled Denilson, and after the play was stopped Boateng then hit Bendtner, and to his credit the young Dane didn't fight back.

The referee then made another strange decision that lifted some eyebrows, giving both Boateng and Bendtner yellow cards, though it was only Boateng who should've received the yellow card, or even a red one.

However, right before the end of the first half, Boateng made yet another reckless tackle on Sagna, almost breaking the French international's right knee. The referee gave Boateng his second yellow card and his marching orders.

In the second half, the game was slow, and Hull had a great solo effort through Altidore, but it was interrupted by the Arsenal defense.

The majority of the game was slow, and filled with bad decisions by Andre Marriner and the linesman (especially the latter).

And it looked like 10-men Hull were going to earn themselves a valuable point. But in the third minute of added time, justice was served when Nicklas Bendtner was able to score a crucial goal for Arsenal.

Denilson shot the ball from outside of the 18-yard box, but Myhill was unable to hold the ball, or even punch it away. Bendtner then shot the ball, and the ball bounced off the ground to give Arsenal three valuable points.

Bendtner has yet again shown the football fans that he indeed has great reactions and great positioning, running at the goal even before the shot reached Myhill, giving him the chance to finish the match at the end of the game.

Arsenal are now second in the table, behind Chelsea on goal differences. Chelsea and Manchester United also have a game in hand.

And until this moment in time, the title race is still a three-way, proving this to be one of the most interesting and intense seasons in recent memory.

With eight games left, Arsenal will still fancy their chances to win the title. As long as they remain consistent and intact as a group, then the Gunners definitely have a chance.