Lambert: We will 100 per cent survive with some help from lady luck
Paul Lambert, the Stoke City manager, declared himself “100 per cent” certain that his team would avoid relegation after blaming “lady luck” and a refereeing mistake for Arsenal’s 3-0 victory.
Arsenal scored their first goal in only the 75th minute, shortly after Xherdan Shaqiri had hit a post for Stoke, and Lambert felt that referee Craig Pawson’s decision to award a penalty against Bruno Martins Indi had been the game’s decisive moment. Although Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was adamant that Mesut Ozil had not dived, Martins Indi did clearly play the ball when he challenged the German playmaker and was convinced that he had been unfairly penalised.
“I touched the ball and it was not a penalty,” said Martins shaved into his hair (above left) in tribute. He could have finished with a hat-trick but Indi. “It cost us. It killed the moment. I think the referee’s angle was not good enough. He said that I stretched my leg and I made a foul.
“He needs to watch it again. It was no penalty and the cameras don’t lie.” Lambert spoke directly with Pawson after the game and said that it was the exact sort of incident for which a video assistant referee should be introduced. allowed Alexandre Lacazette to take a late penalty (above). “It was a game changer,” said Lambert. “You can clearly see that Bruno gets his foot to the ball first – everybody can see it on the television replays so it was a tough one to take.
“I respect the referee but he has not got the benefit of television. He explained they only have one major angle to have a look at it.
“I just think big moments, in big games of this magnitude, they have to be 100 per cent sure. We were in the game and had hit the post a few moments earlier. It was pretty soft.”
Stoke have gone eight games since their last Premier League win but Lambert is convinced that he will lead the club to safety.
“One hundred per cent,” he said. “I thought that when we came in. Nothing has changed my mind that we won’t do it – the only thing missing is lady luck. We never deserved to lose the game, let alone by three.”
Kurt Zouma and Kostas Stafylidis were absent from the Stoke squad due to injury.
Lambert said: “Unfortunately we lost Kostas to a broken rib which he sustained on international duty and Kurt has a problem with his knee.”