"It wasn't deliberate. It was not as if I was looking for him and turning around and looking to injure or maim him, or whatever. I was protecting the ball."

It was interesting to see the TV footage of the game, in which the cameraman sneaked up on the ref Mark Halsey and his linesman when Halsey went over to ask him about the incident.

Halsey had clearly seen nothing, and it was only because of the linesman's flag that he stopped play. But while the linesman was clearly heard to say that it was definitely a yellow card, he was equally definite in not wanting the responsibility of deciding if it should be red.

As I understand it, since the officials dealt with the matter at the time, Sol's hope lies not with any video panel but with the ref, who could decide to overturn the card (or reduce it to yellow). So the fact that the linesman didn't seem sure if it was a sending-off offence or not doesn't help: Halsey heard all that at the time.

What could help though, is the fact that when pressed by Halsey, the lino said that Campbell stopped before deliberately elbowing Solskjaer in the face. When he looks at the replay, Halsey may agree first that Campbell did not stop, and secondly that it was his whole arm rather than his elbow. Both of these facts make what really happened compatible with a fending-off-while-running action, whereas what the linesman (mistakenly) described clearly isn't.

There is a chance, at least. Sol says, "I spoke to the referee after the game and he is willing to look at it. He was receptive to what I said. It looks bad with the naked eye because his head flings back. But the video is not going to lie. It is going to show that it wasn't deliberate. Once it is not deliberate, that really helps me". Quite true, again the audio evidence from telly showed that, once the linesman described what happened, Halsey asked him to cinfirm the word "deliberate". If having seen the tape Halsey feels that Sol's intention is less clear, he does have the power to change things.

Having said that, only a fool would be optimistic. Lets all keep our fingers crossed for the fitness of Martin Keown.

Still, a bit of adversity traditionally brings out the best from Arsenal. Last year was nice, but it felt very strange to have things so easy...

Rupe adds...
The linesman in question is called called Nigel Miller. He has just been named as one of the "assistant referees" who will "assist" referee Graham Barber in the Cup Final. See ITV.com. Miller is a policeman in Durham. Let's hope his observational and descriptive skills in that job (and in Cardiff) are a little better than last night.