Distin fury over Gunners penalty farce
Manchester City captain Sylvain Distin accused Robert Pires and Thierry Henry of being “disrespectful” following the Arsenal duo’s shambolic penalty routine yesterday.
Arsenal won the game 1-0 – but it will be remembered for Pires, who scored the only goal from the spot, trying to set up Henry from the penalty spot instead of shooting.
The trick backfired because referee Mike Riley believed Pires – who inadvertently touched the ball when trying to effect a dummy – had kicked it twice, but Distin was furious at his compatriots’ behaviour.
“What they did was disrespectful,” centre-back Distin, 27, told Sky Sports. “Perhaps you could call it ungentlemanly conduct. I didn’t like it at all.”
Pires revealed that Henry had been the driving force behind their decision to attempt the unconventional spot-kick, famously executed by Johan Cruyff and Jesper Olsen for Ajax in December 1982.
Attempting such a move when only one goal ahead appeared a reckless strategy, and Arsenal were almost made to pay when Darius Vassell was on target for City 10 minutes from time – but his header was ruled out for a marginal offside.
Pires said: “Thierry had the idea of [passing the ball], but I was not comfortable with it.
“We were only 1-0 up, and City could have come back. After the incident, it was difficult for the whole team.
“As soon as I was in the dressing room, I apologised to my team-mates. (Manager) Arsene Wenger said nothing about it, but perhaps he would have done had we drawn the game.
“The referee thought I had touched the ball twice, but I didn’t. After I had touched it by mistake, I tried to hit it properly – but by then it was too late.”
France international Pires, 32, was also guilty of a dreadful miss in the first half after being set up by Henry.
Presented with an easy chance 10 yards from goal, Pires somehow shot over the bar – and he admitted he had been fortunate to finish a winner.
“It was my lucky afternoon in the end,” he reflected. “I skied one easy chance and missed the second penalty, but still managed to score the one that won us the game.
“With the first penalty, I thought about my miss against Birmingham (in Arsenal’s 1-0 home win on October 2), but decided to shoot in the same place.”
Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva, meanwhile, said Pires’ and Henry’s idea had baffled their team-mates.
The 29-year-old Brazilian was concerned that Arsenal would be made to pay for the Frenchmen’s risky actions, and urged them not to attempt anything similar in the future.
Gilberto said: “I don’t know what they tried to do. Sometimes they do different things in training, but I don’t know what they spoke about. I’d never seen anything like it.
“I was worried because we were only 1-0 up and we wasted the chance to score another. When you miss a chance like that, you make the other team believe in themselves and City put us under pressure after that.
“I play with players like Ronaldinho and Robinho for Brazil and you can expect everything from talented players, but I prefer it when Thierry and Robert take penalties normally.”
