Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal: Sell Fàbregas and van Persie's 2 Acts of Stupidity

Barcelona’s 3-1 victory against Arsenal showcased their unyielding ability to keep the ball, rendering Arsenal to a meek 24 percent of possession. At first glance, the result seems comprehensive, when in reality, two of Barcelona’s goals were from Arsenal mistakes, not to mention Robin van Persie’s two acts of stupidity.

Cesc Fàbregas was more useful to Barcelona than he was to Arsenal.

Aside from being anonymous for 77 minutes, his back heel was intercepted by Andrés Iniesta, who provided the defence a splitting pass for Lionel Messi to weave his magic. If not for Fàbregas’ mistake then Arsenal would have gone into the half time break with self-assurance, knowing they accomplished the first phrase of their Mourinhoesq strategy.

But instead they went in with their heads down, having toiled hard for nothing.  It’s time for Arsenal to cut their losses and sell Fàbregas in the summer, given they have an adequate replacement in Jack Wilshere.

Six years ago, Southampton drew 1-1 with Arsenal having had David Prutton sent off for a dreadful challenge on Robert Pires before pushing referee Alan Wiley twice (Prutton would receive a 10 match suspension from the FA). In his post match interview, then Southampton manager Harry Redknapp said, “I am glad Arsenal had an equally stupid player, otherwise I could see no way we would have got a point.”

The player he was referring to was van Persie, who, having escaped with just a yellow card for an elbow on Rory Delap, received a second yellow card for hacking down Graeme Le Saux, having lost the ball by showboating.

In the 43^rd minute, Javier Mascherano put in a heavy but fair challenge on Jack Wilshere, yet for whatever reason, van Persie managed to get himself involved with the usually mild mannered Eric Abidal, who himself could have sent off for grabbing van Persie’s throat.

Having been restrained by his captain Fàbregas and told to calm down, in the next passage of play, van Persie purposely palmed Dani Alves in the face for no apparent reason. Referee Massimo Busacca chose only to hand out a yellow card, despite the relenting pressure the Barcelona players put on him to send van Persie off.  

Now forward to the 55^th minute, van Persie decided to have a shot, having been called for offside. The shot was casual, the body language indicated he knew he was offside as he was trotting back from his offside position and his attempts to dissuade referee Busacca were pleas of desperation.

There are some slight parallels with Inter Milan going down to 10 men against Barcelona last season with Thiago Motta being harshly sent off after disgraceful playacting from Sergio Busquets. Whilst the feeling of unjustness motivated Inter to memorably progress, it was not the case with Arsenal, who conceded a second goal 13 minutes after van Persie’s sending off.

You know the shot van Persie that got him sent off was Arsenal’s only shot of the match, which demonstrated the dominance of Barcelona. Writing in The Telegraph, Clive White once described how the brain is not used by van Persie and that description fits perfectly with what transpired tonight.

By the letter of the law, Busacca's decision was correct, but it was inconsistent with the way he refereed throughout the match. He had a tendency to be lenient, for example bottling the penalty decision when Abou Diaby clearly hacked down Messi and failing to send Koscienly off in the 74^th minute for following through on David Villa after the whistle.

So what you can conclude from referee Busacca is he's willing to send a player off for kicking the ball after the whistle, yet not send a player off for kicking another player after the whistle.

Talking about Koscienly, his lists of mistakes are beginning to pile up having conceding a penalty which Messi converted. He is quickly becoming Arsenal’s version of Titus Bramble. There’s the mistake which cost Arsenal the Carling Cup, conceding a penalty against Newcastle in “that game” and his ability to rack up pointless suspensions (a red card against Newcastle in the 94^th minute and against Liverpool in the 92^nd minute).

How many mistakes can Arsenal afford Koscienly to make?

In a decade’s time, when people review Messi’s audacious first goal, people will forget that it was Fàbregas’ mistake which gifted possession to Iniesta, who provided the assist. People will also forget that in the 87^th minute, instead of shooting first time, Nicklas Bendtner banked on his ordinary first touch and relinquished such a guilt-edged opportunity, which isn’t the first time he has done so and won't be the last.

If Bendtner had scored, making the score 3-2, then Arsenal would have advanced on away goals.