£34m Arsenal star now slammed for ‘ridiculously shocking’ thing he did v Burnley

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Former Arsenal winger Perry Groves has criticised Fabio Vieira for his recklessness on Saturday.

Arsenal beat Premier League strugglers Burnley 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. However, the Gunners’ afternoon was slightly marred by Fabio Vieira being shown a straight red card.

Vieira did not start the game. He came on in place of Kai Havertz in the 59th minute. By the 83rd minute, he was being sent back for an early bath by referee Michael Oliver.

The £45,385-a-week Portuguese playmaker was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Burnley’s Josh Brownhill. Whilst the challenge was clumsy rather than malicious, and fortunately little direct contact was made, Vieira was out of control and came in with his studs at knee-height. The 23-year-old can have no complaints about having been given his marching orders.

The sending off brought a swift end to what had been an underwhelming cameo all-round. In his 24 minutes on the pitch, as per WhoScored statistics, Vieira managed just five touches, and only completed 75% of his passes. 

Now, Vieira will receive a three-match ban, which will make him ineligible for the upcoming clashes with Brentford, Wolves, and Luton Town.

Fabio Vieira makes life harder for Mikel Arteta

The £34 million former Porto midfielder has come in for heavy criticism for his disastrous outing against the Clarets.

Perry Groves, who represented the north London club on 205 occasions between 1986 and 1992, was far from impressed with Vieira. Speaking on talkSPORT, the former winger said, “it’s exactly the right decision from Michael Oliver, it’s a really, really silly challenge from Fabio Vieira…I think he’s having an identity crisis, he thinks he’s Patrick Vieira. Because it was a ridiculously shocking challenge.”

After the match, Mikel Arteta agreed that the referee and VAR had made the right call when it came to dismissing Vieira for the challenge. The Spanish coach will be hugely frustrated with the player, though. Arsenal have injuries in that part of the pitch, and Vieira would have been needed in the coming weeks. Now, he has left Arteta with even fewer options to call upon.