Arsenal have had several key refereeing decisions go against them this season.
The Gunners have had so many issues so far. Injuries to several key players have hurt Arsenal badly, and that is the reason why they are 11 points behind Liverpool in the title race.
Arsenal fans are upset that the club did not reinforce in the January transfer window, but everyone knows that they would be a lot closer to Liverpool if referees did not make mistakes.
Mikel Arteta has had his say on those red cards now.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta aims dig at referees and PGMOL
Arsenal have received five red cards this season – more than any other club in the entire Premier League.
Declan Rice was the first to be sent off for tapping the ball away, while Leandro Trossard was given his marching orders for the same offence.
We haven’t seen a sending-off for any other player for something similar since.
William Saliba was the third Arsenal player to see red after he fouled a Bournemouth attacker on the halfway line. An argument can be made that the referee got it right, but we have seen instances already this season where players have not been sent off for similar fouls.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was on the end of the other two red cards. His sending-off against Wolves was a shocking decision and was rightly overturned, but the call to show him red against West Ham was the right one.
Arteta has every reason to feel hard done by on four of the above five decisions, and the Arsenal manager has subtly aimed a dig at the referees and PGMOL by saying that some rules appear to have changed.
He said, as relayed on HaytersTV: “There are things that in certain red cards that we’ve had, we could’ve done things differently, even though now the rules appear to have changed again and [they’re] not considering what was considered before.
“In other aspects, it is very difficult to change because when you ask the player why they made that decision, it’s a very spontaneous decision, a very sharp movement, a decision-making that caused the action. Very difficult to change that.”
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Where would Arsenal be in the table without the wrong red cards?
Every Arsenal fan will tell you that the red cards given to Rice and Trossard were poor decisions, while the one to Saliba shouldn’t have stood either when you consider how the referees have chosen against sending off other players for similar offences.
Lewis-Skelly’s red against Wolves was a mistake too, but that was retrospectively overturned and didn’t matter anyway as Arsenal won that game. The teenager’s second red card against West Ham was the right call, and Arsenal cannot complain.
In the games against Brighton and Manchester City, when Rice and Trossard were sent off, the Gunners were leading the game and would’ve potentially gone on to win it. Arsenal could’ve beaten Bournemouth too if Saliba wasn’t given his marching orders – they lost that game.
So, the Gunners have dropped seven points due to debatable red card decisions this season.
If they had those points on the board, the difference between the Gunners and Liverpool would now be just four points in the Premier League table – and Arsenal would have a game in hand.
Arteta’s side would still be second, but the title would’ve been in their hands.
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