Thursday 27 April 2017 17:02, UK
Nigel Winterburn has blamed the referee and his assistants for allowing the Alexis Sanchez-Christian Fuchs throw-in incident to escalate at the Emirates on Wednesday evening.
With a couple of minutes remaining of Arsenal's Premier League clash against Leicester, Fuchs's attempt to take a throw-in was blocked by Sanchez, who stood a few inches away from the Foxes' defender.
Fuchs was twice forced to retreat and after becoming increasingly annoyed by the Chilean's antics, made a third attempt by throwing the ball straight at Sanchez.
TV replays showed the ball bounce off the striker's shoulder and glancing off his head.
Sanchez then fell to floor clutching his face only to be shown a yellow card by referee Mike Jones who had earlier gestured him to move away.
But Winterburn, who played for Arsenal between 1983 and 2000, believes the officials should have taken the sting out of the situation earlier.
He told Sky Sports News HQ: "I said straight away when the incident happened that both of them will probably get booked.
"The whole thing is a mess. The referee and the assistant got it completely wrong because they could have diffused it first of all.
"Sanchez was shrugging his shoulders as if to say 'what am I doing wrong'?
"And the linesman or referee should have gone and told him to move away - because you've got to be two metres away.
"If he had done that, Fuchs would not have got irritable.
"Having said that, Sanchez's reaction is ridiculous. But Fuchs should have been booked again because what he did isn't right.
"Both were trying to get each other booked. But it's a complete mess up by the ref."
Ex-Manchester City striker Shaun Goater, who was also appearing on SSN, thinks Sanchez may have been unaware of the rules concerning a throw-in.
Goater suggested: "Rules say you have to be two metres away from the person taking the throw and I'm not certain Sanchez was aware of the rules.
"He probably wasn't and he was doing what I probably would have done because I wasn't aware of the rule until recently.
"Go as close as you can and pretend to jump and obstruct the thrower - that was his intention.
"And it irritated the thrower enough to make him throw the ball at Sanchez who has tried to get Fuchs a yellow card by going down holding his face.
"So, Sanchez was only doing what the players do in the modern game."
