West Brom manager Tony Pulis labels Alexis Sanchez a cheat and slams ref Bobby Madley for not awarding his side a penalty against Arsenal
- REPORT: Arsenal comfortably beat West Brom in the Premier League on Monday
- Referee Bobby Madley was criticised by West Brom's Tony Pulis after the game
- Pulis also turned on Alexis Sanchez whom he thought cheated in the first half
- West Brom were denied a penalty in the first half after a tackle on Jay Rodriguez
Tony Pulis branded Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez a cheat on Monday night following West Bromwich Albion's defeat.
The West Brom manager claimed that the Chilean dived during the early stages of the match and should have been booked.
Pulis also criticised referee Bobby Madley for not awarding his side a penalty in the seventh minute when Jay Rodriguez was clearly brought down by Shkodran Mustafi. Madley allowed the advantage but Rodriguez hit the post.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis reacts during his side's 2-0 defeat by Arsenal on Monday
West Brom were denied a penalty in the first half when Jay Rodriguez was brought down
'Sanchez dived for the first free-kick (when Craig Dawson appeared to bring him down) — and that is cheating,' Pulis said. 'We don't get any reward for being honest. It could have been the player [Mustafi] sent off as well.
'Everybody has seen what's happened. I think if you want to make an example of something I think Sanchez, the first free-kick he gives on the edge of the box Sanchez actually dives and he should be booked for diving in my opinion.
'I think the decisions that were made tonight it's lovely the viewers can watch them. Sanchez should get booked in the first couple of minutes for diving on the edge of the box. There's no-one near him and the referee gives a free kick.
Pulis was referring to when Alexis Sanchez went down outside the box in the 4th minute
The contact between the two players appeared to be minimal on one particular replay
Arsenal didn't score from the resulting free-kick but Pulis was left unhappy
'Then obviously that's a penalty. If the lad's the last minute then not only is it a penalty then it should be a sending off. People say Rodriguez has been too honest and is honesty the thing to do? We haven't had a penalty for over a year now, so the facts are the facts and I'm just pleased everybody's seen it.'
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was not so complimentary of the television companies, criticising them for their scheduling of his side's fixtures this week.
They travel to Belarus for a Europa League tie against Bate Borisov on Thursday and then have another televised league match against Brighton at lunchtime on Sunday.
West Brom have gone 39 Premier League games without being awarded a penalty
'The schedule is a bit cruel,' Wenger said. 'We played tonight, we play in Borisov on Thursday night, we play Sunday at 12 o'clock here. When you look at the schedule of the weekend I think there was some room for us to be different. We have accept it and we want to go to Borisov with a team of senior players and a young bench.
'There is no need to talk to the Premier League about that because it's the television who decides. For example Brighton-Newcastle on television, they could've played on Monday night and we could've played on Sunday. For us the time is very short.
'But television decides and I don't complain about that. What I want to say for the selection it has an impact for me for the Thursday and Sunday game because we have another home game and it's very important we have strong record at home.'
Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette scored twice during the 2-0 victory over West Brom
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