Arsenal put an end to their four game losing streak with a 2-0 away win against AC Milan at the San Siro stadium in their Europa League Last 16 first-leg tie.
The big talking point after the game other than Mesut Ozil putting on a masterclass and the two goals was Hakan Calhanoglu.
Should he have dived? in fact it would be unfair to have labelled it a dive had he gone down when David Ospina rushed out and completely missed the ball forcing Calhanoglu to jump over him. What if he did not jump though? well AC Milan would have been awarded a penatly and Ospina would probably have been sent off.
So was Calhangolu right to be honest? Arsenal went onto score twice after the incident…
Forward to the second minute to see exactly what happened.
Are we sending mixed messages out, we seem to be in agreement that diving is wrong but ultimately it is rewarded.
Arsenal fans had their say on the matter on Twitter after the game.
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In general Calhanoglu was praised for his honesty and fans appeared to sympathise with him.
Massive respect to Hakan Çalhanoğlu who was honest & didnt go down trying to buy the penalty. Imagine this was Dele Alli pic.twitter.com/qwm6oof4dj
— Mèmžì (@Durchiga) March 9, 2018
He still should’ve got the penalty. Just because he didn’t fall down didn’t mean a foul wasn’t committed. Credit to the player for staying on his feet though ??
— L.DOT (@Lthomas14Thomas) March 9, 2018
14: Fair play to Calhanoglu for staying on his feet there, by the way…
?? 0-0 ???????
— ArsenalFanTV (@ArsenalFanTV) March 8, 2018
Do we have a problem in football? players are told not to dive but are rewarded for doing so, honesty meanwhile ended up costing Calhanoglu and his team dearly.
Calhanoglu staying on his feet, got to applaud the honesty.
Unfortunately for him though, you get more penalties for being a sketchy, cheating diver.
— Coral (@Coral) March 8, 2018
Prime example of why football players go down in the box. Çalhanoglu penalised for trying to stay on his feet. Referees have to do better.
— Graham Ruthven (@grahamruthven) March 8, 2018
And that is why players go down under contact. If Calhanoglu (I think that’s correct) goes down, that’s a penalty and maybe even a red card! Stays on his feet and he got nothing. #UEL
— Nikhil Saglani (@Nikhil_Saglani) March 8, 2018
“If Çalhanoğlu was smart and went down, Arsenal would’ve lost”
So basically, if a player cheats, the opposition could end up losing the game.
Mind blown! pic.twitter.com/LEoglS8Iiw
— Walid Arsenal (@1Walid1) March 9, 2018
Should you have to go down to win a penalty?
So Calhanoglu stays on his feet despite being put off by jumping over Ospina but no penalty given.
You shouldn’t have to go down to win a penalty.
This is why players dive.#ACMvAFC— BetVictor (@BetVictor) March 8, 2018
Some Arsenal fans thought of what Dele Alli would have done.
Dele Alli off the contact like….. pic.twitter.com/rhVrgoStjI
— Dean Ryan (@Dean_Ryan77) March 9, 2018
— JCG North London (@GioiaJu) March 9, 2018
Dele Alli to Calhanoglu staying on his feet there pic.twitter.com/WvH7iGy3ov
— Coral (@Coral) March 8, 2018
Just seen the most frustrating aspect of the Dele Alli question watching the Milan game. Commentators saying Calhanoglu should have gone down and won the penalty, Dele does and he’s branded a cheat. Narratives are powerful
— RossH (@RossH1983) March 8, 2018