Arsenal fans are furious at the latest refereeing decision in the Premier League as William Saliba was booked during the North London derby.
The Gunners travelled to N17 with their confidence dented due to an influx of injuries going into the fixture.
Mikel Arteta named five teenagers on the bench for the trip to Tottenham, giving a handful of academy stars the chance to become the hero in the North London derby.
Just like last season, Arsenal travelled to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a point to prove, but for a different reason, as the Gunners dropped points last time out.
A controversial draw against Brighton at the Emirates left Arteta’s side heading into the international break carrying frustration.
The talking point from the 1-1 draw was not so much Arsenal’s weaknesses, but the decision of Chris Kavanagh to send Declan Rice off for two bookable offences.
Rice was dismissed early into the second half due to disrupting the restart of play, as the midfielder was seen nudging the ball away in a controversial passage of play involving Joel Veltman.
The theme of Rice’s yellow card came into conversation during the North London derby for reasons that Arsenal fans can’t quite believe.
- READ MORE: Arsenal fans are furious over incident in Liverpool defeat as Declan Rice decision highlighted
Arsenal fans react to William Saliba’s yellow card against Tottenham
William Saliba picked up a booking in the 15th minute for the same reason as Rice did two weeks ago, time wasting.
The Frenchman gave away a foul and then collected the ball, seeing Jarred Gillett waste no time himself in showing the centre-back a yellow.
Fans fumed on X as the decision was made, as a series of identical offences have gone unpunished in the Premier League in recent fixtures.
“Just for Arsenal” one supporter said in reaction to the booking, as another agreed with, “Here we go, the delay the restart rule only applies to Arsenal again.”
“This refs are mad, letter of the law only applies to Arsenal,what a silly yellow to Saliba.”
Fans formed a comparison to the nature in which Rice picked up a yellow against Brighton, splitting opinion in the fan base as some called on Saliba to learn from his teammates miss fortune.
“Gillett is the absolute worse. Saliba also needs to be smarter. Both can be true. But yeah, classic ref applying a rule only to us.”
Another supporter said, “But that’s immature from Saliba. Spent weeks talking about that exact card, why would he even try that?”
The general consensus from Arsenal fans was the lack of consistency from referees regarding time wasting in the Premier League.
“Hilarious officiating,” one Arsenal fan said, “It existed for Arsenal. Since two weeks ago.”
Another supporter fumed at the other controversial events that took place in the first half, saying, “No pen given, and Saliba booked for nothing, this institution of refereeing are cheats.”
Premier League time wasting rule will be tested
The North London derby wasn’t the only time that a controversial refereeing decision hit Arsenal, and other clubs in the top flight.
PGMOL are eager to implement the new rules quickly in order to crackdown on needless time wasting although consistency is needed to make players aware of the consequences.
Instead, there have already been countless instances of time wasting that have gone unpunished, causing confusion for all.
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