Cesc Fabregas Remains Under Scrutiny for Accusing Referees of Accepting Bribes

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas put himself and his team in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

The midfielder accused officials of accepting bribes from opponent Everton when they awarded the Toffees what seemed to be an offside goal.

Since then, Everton manager David Moyes has spoken out against the captain, declaring that the Spaniard should have received a red card for his actions.

"Cesc questioned Everton's integrity by suggesting we had possibly given money to the ref,” he told BBC. That's why I felt if I or any player had said that, I think it would have warranted a sending off."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger fired back at Moyes, defending his captain.

“Take the 20 captains of the Premier League and then try to convince me that not one of them says something to a referee for the whole team.

“Cesc has gone through a lot, difficult moments, but has always come out stronger," Wenger added. "This guy is a fantastic leader. He is 24 this year, he has played 250 games in the Premier League. At that age, it is absolutely remarkable. People are more demanding and Cesc has to live with that. It is not easy, but he is a very intelligent man and he will learn very quickly to cope with that."

In the midst of this media-fueled controversy, the Gunners are still in the race for the English Premier title. After their triumphant 2-1 victory over Everton, Arsenal is just five points behind league leader Manchester United.

Both Arsenal and Manchester United play Saturday, against Newcastle United and Wolverhamption, respectively.

Arsenal will see the return of Theo Walcott, who was dealing with an ankle injury, but will be without the services of Alex Song, who is out with a thigh issue.

Newcastle’s Shola Ameobi broke his cheekbone this week, and will be kept out of Saturday’s action along with Fabricio Coloccini, who will most likely be kept sidelined due to his hamstring injury.

Newcastle has won just two of the last 19 matches against Arsenal.