Source: Daily_Mail
Ban Eduardo! Celtic fury at Arsenal star’s penalty dive
Furious Celtic players last nighturged UEFA to ban Eduardo afterthe Croat clearly dived for thepenalty that put Arsenal on coursefor the Champions League groupstages.
Arsenal's 3-1 victory guaranteed a£26million windfall but was marred bycontroversy when Eduardo, making hissecond start of the season for Arsenal,tumbled to the ground under a nonexistentchallenge by Celtic goalkeeperArtur Boruc in the 28th minute.
His acrobatics were good enough to foolbadly positioned Spanish referee ManuelMejuto Gonzalez, who pointed to the spotdespite Celtic's angry protests. Eduardoscored from the spot to open the scoring.
Celtic midfielder Massimo Donati said:'If it is clear on television then UEFA mustact against Eduardo and ban him. I thinkhe should get a two-match suspension.
'Itwas not a penalty. I told him, and everyonein the Celtic team told him. But unfortunately it is part of football now. We can donothing now because the referee gave it.
'Eduardo did not say anything to mewhen I challenged him about the dive. Hejust put his fingers to his lips. It is notgood when one guy does this. I feel sorryfor Artur because he tried to make sure hedid not touch him.
'When the referee points to the spot,there's nothing you can do. In life, you areeither honest or not. It is better to behonest in your life. Some people are not like that.'
Donati pointed to Heartswinger Saulius Mikloiunas, whowas given a two-match ban fordiving by UEFA after winning apenalty for Lithuania againstScotland, while Rangers strikerKyle Lafferty is serving the samesentence for cheating againstAberdeen last May.
He added: 'The Rangers player(Lafferty) was given a ban inScotland. For me, what Eduardodid to us is the same. It is a badsituation. So UEFA must takeaction.'
Arsene Wenger, whose side won5-1 on aggregate, suggestedEduardo's horror injury 18 monthsago meant he could have simplybeen trying to get out of the way,but conceded it was not a penalty.
He said: 'From outside it looked like a penalty, but having seen itagain on the television it doesn'tlook to be a penalty. I believereally it wasn't a penalty but I amnot sure that the keeper didn'ttouch him with his right knee,having seen it again.
Donati was furious with Arsenal's spot kick
'With what happen to Eduardo Iam a bit cautious about becausehe might have jumped out of theway as well. I don't think he wouldhave complained if the penaltywas not given.
'Did he want to getout of the way of the keeper? Ihave to ask him. I have never asked a guy to diveto get a penalty but sometimesthe players go down becausethere is no other way to escapethe tackling from the keeper.Sometimes they dive.
'I do notwant a penalty that is not apenalty.
'We are now in the top league inEurope, with all the big names.Somebody told me our teamtonight was an average age of 23.9years. That means if we can getout of the group stage, then in sixmonths we can be even stronger.
'That is what we want to focus on,to continue to improve our teamplay, the speed of our game andshow that we have made bigimprovements come Saturday at5.15 against Manchester United.'
Celtic manager Tony Mowbraytook his cue from his players,adding: 'I haven't seen it on are-run. I take at face value whatthe players are saying, that therewas no contact.
'I can't sit here and complain, thereferee gave it. If the picturesshow that it shouldn't have beenthen so be it, we have to accept it.'
Celtic will now take their place inthe Europa League.
