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Van Persie not charged on elbow against Villa player

Comment: 0 January 31st, 2012

Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie will not be punished by the Football Association following an alleged elbow to Aston Villa’s Carlos Cuéllar during their fourth round FA Cup tie on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium.

The confirmation came from match referee Michael Jones, who stated in the report that he spotted the incident and did not think it needed the punishment that Aston Villa are calling for.

During the post-match interview, Villa manager Alex McLeish said “I thought he put an elbow to his face. It’s dangerous.”

The event occurred in the late stages of the match when Van Persie and Cuéllar were jockeying for position to receive a fly-ball. Once they collided, the Arsenal skipper’s right elbow could be seen making direct contact with Cuéllar’s face causing the Villa defender to go down.

If the FA deemed the action required punishment, the offence would have merited a violent conduct charge and the Dutch striker would serve a three-match ban.

The Gunners, however, narrowly escaped defeat against Villa in the said tie, with Van Persie saving the day by scoring two goals. Villa had a 2-0 lead coming out of the halftime break thanks to Richard Dunne and Darren Bent strikes.

Arsenal were able to pull off three goals in a span of seven minutes to completely turn the tide. Van Persie scored from a penalty given-up by Dunne.

Theo Walcott leveled the score while Van Persie gave the Gunners the lead after another spot kick due to a foul by Bent.

The win secured Arsenal’s place in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

A suspension would be a real blow to the Gunners, who have heavily relied on Van Persie’s presence and scoring prowess to salvage games. In 22 matches this season for Arsenal, he has scored 19 times.

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