Ben White made his first Premier League start since returning from injury against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Jurien Timber was rested ahead of Tuesday night’s clash with Real Madrid, with the Englishman coming in for the Dutchman at right-back.
White looked rusty throughout, struggling to deal with Everton’s energetic and aggressive pressing.
However, the afternoon could’ve gone worse for the versatile defender, after he was brought down by a reckless tackle from Jake O’Brien.
Premier League release statement on Ben White and Jake O’Brien incident
With the game poised at 0-0 after 16 minutes, O’Brien slid in on White on the touchline in an out-of-control manner.
Initially not punishing the Irish defender with a card, referee Darren England appeared to brandish a booking after the incident had been checked and cleared by VAR.
Posting on X, the Premier League match centre released a statement on the matter, writing: “The referee’s call of a yellow card to O’Brien for the action on White was checked and confirmed by VAR – with this deemed not to be violent conduct.”
The call created confusion, with VAR supposedly not meant to issue yellow cards after reviews, yet this appeared to be what England did.
Jake O’Brien should’ve been sent off for tackle on Ben White
An aggressive and reckless action, O’Brien arguably should’ve seen red for the incident.
Lashing out at White on the touchline was certainly dangerous, and could’ve seriously injured the Arsenal defender.
Once again, violent conduct is being ignored by Premier League officials, while technical infringements of the law are enforced meticulously.
Howard Webb must start deterring violent conduct by punishing reckless tackles accordingly, otherwise, players are going to get seriously hurt.
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