Ethan Nwaneri had a dramatic night on loan at Marseille while Arsenal booked their spot in the Carabao Cup final back in London.
Marseille desperately looked to return to winning ways after drawing against Paris FC and losing to Club Brugge.
Nwaneri was so disappointed about Marseille’s Champions League exit, giving the squad something to prove in their Coupe de France round of 16 clash with Stade Rennais.
As pressure was mounting on Roberto De Zerbi, which would’ve alarmed Arsenal, Marseille defused the tension with a 3-0 win over Rennes; however, it wasn’t the best of nights for Nwaneri.
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Ethan Nwaneri involved in red card controversy for Marseille
After Nwaneri struggled against Paris FC, the Arsenal loanee would’ve been eager to make amends in the cup.
The teenager made the headlines, but not for the right reasons, as a controversial first-half tackle sent the game into a frenzy.
Nwaneri fouled Rennes’ Glen Kamara, a fellow Arsenal academy product, and the tackle didn’t look good at all, as his opponent’s ankle folded beneath him.
Referee Thomas Leonard stopped the game after initially playing the advantage and showed Nwaneri a yellow card, and it has to be said that the Hale End star was fortunate, as VAR was not in use.
That wasn’t the end of the drama for the Arsenal starlet, as De Zerbi hooked Nwaneri at half-time and post-match, tension regarding his foul on Kamara rose.
Rennes manager Habib Beye was furious, as some outlets, including Eurosport, state that Beye said to De Zerbi on the touchline, “If it’s on the other side, it’s a red card.”
Post-match, the Rennes boss stated that the officials realised they made a mistake.
“The referee also acknowledged that there was a red card for the tackle on Kamara in the first half,” he said.
Nwaneri was ‘playing with fire’ against Rennes
It’s unsurprising that Beye was so angry with the challenge, as Kamara was unable to continue the match after the foul.
If Arsenal received a £70m bid for Ethan Nwaneri in the summer, would you sell him?
It’s equally as unsurprising that De Zerbi took Nwaneri off at half-time, as his challenge on Kamara wasn’t the last of his mishaps.
RMC’s live text of the match described the Arsenal loanee as ‘playing with fire’, as just before the interval, he was seen to push a Rennes player.
De Zerbi had seen enough and took the teenager out of the game to avoid him getting a red card.
Nwaneri has been thrown in at the deep end in Marseille, and now, his biggest challenge awaits, as up next in Ligue 1 come Paris Saint-Germain.
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