But before discussing that you might be amused to read this report from the Toffees' side of things, which appears to be saying that Lie Tie's dismissal has wrecked their chances of getting into Europe next year through the "fair play" place. A bit early for that kind of pessimism isn't it? (I'm told that it was tongue-in-cheek, and if that's the case then I apologise to the writer for not spotting it. I still can't see it myself, but according to my correspondent "the dubious fair play league... is a bit of a bugbear to us Everton fans" so perhaps it's a bit of an "in joke")

And to be fair, the rest of the report is spot on. They concede that Lie Tie deserved the 2 yellow cards, and are probably right in saying that the ref got all the big decisions spot on. David Moyes is quoted as saying that Campbell's sending off didn't help them - it both galvanised Arsenal and distracted Everton. "I would rather have had the goal than the sending off", he said, which I guess confirms that Sol did the right thing (which is not to say he wasn't going for the ball, of course). These sentiments have been echoed today by Patrick Vieira.

There's no argument over Sol's red card. Wenger has said, "Sol told me at halftime that he caught the player so I have no complaints, it was a last-man foul and that is the rules." Sol should only face a 1 match ban for this one.

Regarding Henry's goal celebration, Wenger says "I understand the rules, he has got away with it". The rules he's talking about is the fact that referees have been instructed this year to book players for inflammatory goal celebrations. Dabid Moyes said, "We have had directives from the police not to celebrate in front of the opposition fans and were told we could get booked by the referee if we did."

In that context, Wenger's right. So far Thierry has got away with it because there's no question his running over to the Everton fans and ripping his shirt off was done to wind them up. We have to hope that Wenger's admission doesn't help the FA decide to take action against Thierry. But maybe we'll be ok, from what Moyes said it sounds like the FA did leave the refs a little discretion in this matter. There's no question that the ref saw what Henry did, and he did appear to tick him off. So presumably the ref feels he dealt with the matter fully and appropriately on the day. Lets' see, Wenger did add to his "maybe we got away with it" by saying "but maybe sometimes that can happen, even for Arsenal". Don't count your chickens Arsene!

But I think it's worth putting the incident, and the rule, in context. If a player could celebrate like that and only incite the opposition fans to shout at him, I don't think anyone would be concerned. Lots of people say that the atmosphere at football matches isn't what it once was, so in my view it's to players credit when they do stuff to create an atmosphere. What do the FA want, everyone sitting down quietly and clapping politely? The problem is caused by the opposition fans who react by throwing stuff, and it's a sad thing that the only answer we appear to have to that behaviour is to tell the players not to go near them. Having said that, it's also worth pointing out that there was a time when it would have been bananas being thrown at Henry rather than plastic bottles, so it's fair to say that some progress has been made!

On Jimmy Hill's program on Sky today one of his idiot pundits was talking about Henry pointing at the name on his back, an act which apparently was aimed at the Everton fans with hostile intent. Now hang on a minute, Henry did this from near the half way line, a long way fromn those fans, and wasn't it in response to them chanting "who the f**king hell are you"? Wasn't it a jokey follow up to the previous antagonism and isn't this exactly the kind of interaction we should encourage between players and the crowd? Some of these people seem to want us all watching the game from our sofas at home. Incidentally, to be fair to Jimmy Hill himself, as usual on these kind of matters his attitude was extremely reasonable. He spoke of the excitement of scoring a goal and the urge to express it. At times he used to approach the opposition fans in such moments himself, and might well have ripped his shirt off if it had been the done thing those days (and if he could get it over his chin).

Fair play also to Everton fansite "When Skies are Grey" for this balanced report (ok it says they were on top before the red card but apart from that...). I quote, "Just what provoked [Henry's] reaction wasn't clear, but why are some Evertonians getting their drawers in a twist over it...? ... Players should be encouraged to wind the supporters up - it makes for a far more interesting atmosphere. ... Take it like a man or stop going to the game."

Henry's got to tone it down a bit, no question. Whether he gets nobbled for it this time or not, people will be looking out for it and you can bet that the next ref to see him do it will bring out a card. But should it really be entirely the players' responsibility to stop fans throwing stuff at them?

Rupe adds...
George Ranyer writes, "The reason the Everton fans were so incensed with Henry was that moments before, when the penalty was awarded (no complaint) some of the kids at the front were berating the ref et al about the decision when an Arsenal steward wearing number 1 on his dayglo waistcoat lashed out at one of them. This caused the initial reaction, police waded in - as they do. Henry takes his pen, and then starts his "celebration". The throwing of things etc It was not just a reaction to Henry's action but the sequence of events that have not been reported anywhere."

Well they've been reported now George, thanks for the info. Obviously, if what you say is true then the steward deserves to be facing some very serious questions. Obviously it doesn't justify the fans reaction, but it's certainly good to understand how these things come to pass.

Rupe adds...
See follow-up (about Henry being reported for the celebration after all!)