Gutless Hilda Denies Arsenal Justice

When Gary Neville brought Thierry Henry down in the penalty area in the 36th minute at the Emirates Stadium around 60,000 people thought it was a penalty. Not ‘might be’, but ‘was’. That number included the Arsenal captain and his team, the Arsenal bench, all the Arsenal fans, the Sky pundits and even Andy Gray, who is not known for excessive charity towards the Gunners. And the incident was so blatant you suspected that, deep down, even United fans thought it was a penalty.

Unfortunately for Arsene Wenger’s boys referee Steve Bennett, the only person whose opinion mattered, imperiously waved play on, thereby demonstrating how well he was cast as a replacement for Mike Riley, the originally appointed official.

Dame Hilda Brackett in for Mr Bean. It was a cruel blow.