What sometimes goes a bit unnoticed is the fact that Arsenal is currently on a run of unbeaten games in the EPL.

It all started in style with a 3-1 victory over Chelsea on 27 December last year. Two days later the FA sent us to Wigan and the ref over there did all he could to prevent us from winning. A blatant dive outside the penalty area was punished with a penalty for Wigan. On the other side he refused to give us two penalties in the final minutes. We had to settle for a draw in that game. The ref cost us 2 points.

In our next away game we went to Birmingham and won 3-0. A comfortable win. And to finish 10 days with 4 games we got Manchester City at home. City didn’t trouble our goalkeeper but built an Italian inspired wall in front of their goal. Again the ref refused us a penalty and so we had to settle for 1 point.

Then we went to West Ham United and again we had a rather easy win with 3-0. And we did this again when Wigan came to the Emirates later that month and won with the same score line. Nothing the refs could do about that.

Despite the ref allowing Everton a blatant offside goal we came back and won our next home game.

Then came the Phil Dowd show who denied us the 3 points at Newcastle. In a previously unseen and unashamed way of handling things he managed to give Newcastle all and everything. An eye opener for all those who never believed that refs can have an influence on the outcomes of a game.  (Mind you, if you are still not convinced about this, then nothing ever will convince you). But still we managed to keep our unbeaten run going.

In the next game we won 2-0 against Wolves and this was a rather uneventful game as we were the better side and never really got into trouble. The same applied for our game against Stoke. But then in the second half we felt the upcoming Carling Cup final in our head. And after the injury sustained by Cesc and Theo other players were happy to hold on to the 1-0 victory.

In our next game against Sunderland our dear friends the refs were at the middle of the show again. A perfectly valid goal was denied for a non existent offside. And a blatant push in the back of Arshavin just as he was going to shoot was not punished with a penalty and a red card by the ref. Again we lose 2 points thanks to the refs.

Up to WBA and we made life difficult for ourselves. Giving two easy goals away and then we had to fight hard to come back. But the team showed character and came back to grab a point. It could have been more but this wasn’t our best game so we had to settle for the one point.

Then Blackburn Rovers came to town to steal a point away and they managed to do so. Again we missed the early chances and we paid the price and couldn’t break down a strong defensive performance from the visiting team at the Emirates. But at Blackpool we showed we hadn’t lost our touch and won rather comfortably at the end.

And speaking about “the end” well the game against Liverpool was done in 4 minutes at the end. From minute 97 to 101 the major events took place when it comes to goal scoring. The ref for some reason wanted Liverpool to equalise after the 98th minute and gave them all the Fergie time they needed so he could award them a very soft penalty. And that after denying Arsenal at least 2 clear penalties in the first half. I think it is fair to say that the ref cost us another 2 points in this game by backing away from the major decisions early in the game which should have gone our way.

And now we didn’t lose at Tottenham. I know we don’t like the result but this was a typical derby game with both teams going for victory and both ending up with only 1 point.

In fact alone  in the 16 games in this run we had 5 games (Wigan-Man City- Newcastle-Sunderland-Liverpool) in which we lost 2 points in each game “thanks” to the decisions of the refs. That is a total of 10 points!

10 points. Ten points. Just add this to our total if you please. It sure would put the league table upside down a bit. And I don’t even mention the games earlier in the season when the refs did a few things that didn’t really looked very according to the rules.  But as I didn’t planned to write an article about the refs I will come back to this later when I really write about the refs and the points they have cost us.

No I just wanted to praise our team for the continuing unbeaten run they are producing. The EPL is the most difficult league in the world. And when you can go on such a run with a team you are doing a great job. This run has started in the winter. You know that according to the pundits we don’t like the full season as we are soft foreigners.  The season includes many games with teams who are willing to stick the boot in, which we also don’t like according to the pundits.

Well if we manage to stay unbeaten for such a long period this is saying something. This is telling me that this team can fight to get results. And I don’t know if the reward will still come this season or not, but the fact that they can go on such a run without at parts some of their best players out for injury that our team is growing and becoming stronger. Imagine what could have been with some better refs by now…

So whatever the negative blogs will say, I say this team is getting better. And one can criticise some moments in some games but if the players could have turned the current draws in victories we would have been top. And we all know that the difference between winning and not winning is sometimes down to small details. So if we work on these details and if we can maintain this group of players, and maybe add a few and have Vermaelen back,  we could be ready not just for a great season but for many seasons.