Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has said that Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana was “lucky” to escape a yellow card that could’ve resulted in a red card against Arsenal.
It came during an intense clash at the Emirates Stadium, where both sides looked to battle in a London Derby that threatened to spill over at times.
Mikel Merino scored the only goal of the game with a set-piece header, as Arsenal beat Chelsea in a huge victory for the home side.
The Gunners were left feeling a little unfortunate when it came to refereeing decisions made by Chris Kavanagh on the day.
Dermot Gallagher explains Wesley Fofana red card call against Arsenal
Wesley Fofana was fortunate not to receive a red card against Arsenal after a whole host of fouls in the clash on Sunday.
The defender made a reckless challenge on Declan Rice, stamping on the back of the midfielder after fouling him.
While a VAR review cleared a potential red card, the Frenchman never even received a yellow card for the incident either.
Discussing the incident, Dermot Gallagher said on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch: “I think this was really really lucky throughout the game, it wasn’t just this, he committed a number of offences.
“Ironically he got yellow carded later in the game for delaying the restart but I don’t think that’s a red card if it’s a yellow card he can’t argue and if he gets a yellow card, it may stop him from committing a number of the challenges he committed after.”
Overall though, it wasn’t the only incident in which Fofana could’ve received a red card, with plenty of borderline yellow card fouls made after.
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Wesley Fofana should’ve seen yellow card after red card incident
While it perhaps shouldn’t have been a red card within the initial VAR check, the lack of a yellow card from Chris Kavanagh was baffling.
It only became more so when Fofana didn’t get shown a booking for various fouls afterwards only to be shown one when he delayed the restart.
On other possible yellow card incidents, Gallagher added: “This one for me [stopping Trossard from breaking] is a yellow card in its own right… He throws a second ball on the pitch to delay the restart.
“I think when you look at the first one and he’s not given a yellow card on the one on Declan Rice, I always refer to Clattenburg because he was the expert on this, what you do is you pull him out and say ‘That’s your last one’ and when he commits the next one, when he yellow cards him, you think ‘What does he expect? He just told him’.”
While it may not have resulted in the challenges that followed with a red card, it’s fair to say that there were a few bookable offences.
Overall it means that, even if he wasn’t necessarily lucky to escape a red card, he was at the least lucky to escape calls for a red.
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