Sat nav fingered in shock Arsenal defeat

Wrong turn

By John Leyden • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 11th December 2007 11:14 GMT

Sat nav technology has been blamed for many wrongdoings - from lorries turning sleepy villages into scenes of HGV chaos, to directing owners of prestige vehicles into rivers.

But an apparent lack of sat nav technology, or conceivably another example of its misuse, led to the late arrival of Premiership leaders Arsenal for a game at lowly Middlesbrough on Sunday, where they subsequently slumped to a shock 2-1 defeat.

Arsenal's coach driver got lost on the way to the Riverside stadium, turning off the A19 and heading for Darlington instead of Middlesbrough. As a result they arrived with only an hour to spare before kick-off, the Daily Mirror reports.

Arsene Wenger's team turned in a poor performance that saw their Premiership lead trimmed to one point.

Ironically, Boro's sponsor is sat nav manufacturer Garmin. Grounds for a replay, perhaps? Or the makings of the best football hard luck story since Manchester United's Alex Ferguson claimed his players couldn't see each other while wearing a grey kit during the first half of the side's defeat away to Southampton.

Alternatively, you can believe Gareth Southgate's tactical genius was responsible for Sunday's victory, a feat that took Boro out of the relegation zone.

With other English-born managerial candidates falling out of contention, it's surely only a matter of time before talk of "Southgate for England" flares up. ®

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