Arsenal striker Eduardo has been suspended for two matches for his dive during Arsenal's recent UEFA Champions League victory against Celtic last week. He will now miss the first two matches of the group stage.
Eduardo was punished for pretending to be taken down by Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc on a play that earned Arsenal a penalty kick. Arsenal is planning to appeal the suspension.
Here are some other stories from across the pond to round out your Tuesday:
Spalletti quits Roma, Raineri to take over
Two losses to start the season was enough to send Luciano Spalletti out of Roma. The highly-regarded manager resigned after seeing his team drop losses to Genoa and Juventus to start the Serie A campaign.
Rumors are circulating that former Chelsea and Juventus manager Claudio Raineri will take over. His introduction is expected on Wednesday.
Transfer Updates
Aston Villa added a pair of central defenders before the transfer deadline, buying West Ham defender Martin Collins and Manchester City captain Richard Dunne. The price was a combined £11 million ($17.75 million).
—–
Sunderland closed the deal to buy defender Michael Turner from Hull City. The price was £6.5million (about $10.9 million).
—–
Everton's quest to land Argentine midfielder Ever Banega fell short after Valencia balked at a loan deal.
—–
Tottenham secured the services of Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjcar from Portsmouth after Kranjcar turned down a move to Everton to be re-unted with former Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp.
———————-
What did you think of these stories? Think Eduardo deserved the suspension? Surprised to see Spalletti leave Roma, or was he destined to leave after a disappointing past season for the Romans? Which last-minute transfer do you see making the biggest impact in the EPL?
Share your thoughts below.
Dunne
Davies
Cuellar
Collins
Clark
Not a bad depth chart for the Villa DC spot. Glad the Shorey deal fell through too, he’s slowly understanding his role with the club. Plus we were close to being one Warnock injury away from being screwed at LB.
Had the keeper not violently hurled himself at the feet of eduardo , completely missing the ball, Eduardo would have surely scored. Absolutely no doubt. So to be awarded a “proper” penalty, the forward must plow violently into the keeper(who has a huge advantage physically, awareness, less to lose, etc); the forward must risk a knee,ankle, foot injury to be awarded his proper? this is a patently ridiculous case.
@Josh,
It has nothing to do with “power mad.” It has much more to do with extremely unsportsmanlike conduct that undermines the game. You know as well as I that a PK can change the ENTIRE complexion of a game, and even determine the outcome. It’s not acceptable. I personally think the “official” FIFA rules should designate diving a straight red, so there’s no question. This UEFA ruling sends a message that those kinds of antics are crap, and will not be tolerated. Shame on the ref and his crew, as well, for not being in position to make the call. Between 2 linesmen and a referee, BLATANT dives should never fly under the radar. UEFA did what it needed to do to protect the game…a post-game yellow has no impact. I bet Eduardo thinks twice about diving again with this suspension, versus if he had been given a post-game yellow.
Advocat-did your dog get run over by a keeper? Yipes…
And TimN-you can’t give somebody a warning at the beginning of a game and call it equivalent to a yellow. That is just asinine. I hate diving too, but I also hate power-mad refs.
What I don’t understand is why is the punishment for diving during a game a yellow card, when it is currently impacting the game, but more severe weeks after the game, when the game is long settled. Either red-card diving, or hand out post-game yellow cards after review. Be consistent.
Shaq. Kobe, and Jordan flop/dive with nearly every shot; even a tap on the shoulder they cried foul and awarded free throws. Over and over. The baseball catcher receives the pitch outside the box and maneuvers it into the strike zone. The QB and punter is barely touched and cry flagrant foul. These are all fakers but they are not reprimanded; they are actually praised in America.
I’m willing to except diving as part of the game. Players will always push the limits of the rules. In a highly competitive game a dive can be an important tool. Taking a dive or two is a good way to back off a physical team. Don’t Scottish League teams have reputations for being overly physical?
@Meyers,
Yes, I do ref, and my jusification is that the upfront warning is essentially their “first yellow.” They have clearly been warned about diving at that juncture, so if I see it AFTER THAT, then it’s a “2nd violation” of the rule against “deliberate actions designed to deceive the referee.” Therefore, 2 yellows equals a red. You can say I’m gerrymandering the rules, but diving undermines the game. When players step on the pitch with me, they know what the consequences are for junk play like that.
Somebody’s got to put their foot down, and that foot is me! I hate p%##$*@!
Eduardo should not have dived. That is something that needs to be taken out of the game, no doubt. But what about Rooney’s dive against Arsenal? Where is the furor over that? and why a two-game ban? Professional fouls by the last defender are rarely greeted with a red, although they are supposed to be, and even when they are it never results in a two-match ban. Hell, the dude who broke Eduardo’s leg in a filthy tackle should have been banned for life, but he wasn’t. This is arbitrary enforcement of a rule and it’s too bad.
who is the real “diver” here? The keeper actually simulated more than eduardo. Celtic was completely outplayed when Eduardo broke to the box. does th ekeeper stay near his line to make a genuine reflex save? Nope. He runs full speed at the forward (eduardo) completely out of control, completely misses the ball(!!!). If he didnt touch the ball, what was his purpose of diving head first, missile like at Eduardo shakey bones? I say, the keeper simulated a real attempt at a save. And that is much more dishonest. That is a greater violation of the spirit of the game. we pay thousands upon thousands to watch players like Eduardo. we dream to be players like Eduardo. Our nightmare is to play like the Celtic keeper; whats his name? who knows and no one will ever care nor pay money to watch this keeper. He is not even referred to as a “player” but a “keeper” or “net-minder”. should be “human missile thrower”.