Arsenal were reduced to ten men for the fifth time this season when Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent off against West Ham on Saturday afternoon.
With the clash at the Emirates poised at 1-0 to the travelling side, Lewis-Skelly was given his marching orders for tripping Mohamed Kudus as the Ghanaian looked to run through on goal.
After initially brandishing a yellow card for the teenager’s actions, referee Craig Pawson upgraded the decision to a straight red after a VAR review.
Lewis-Skelly will miss Arsenal’s trip to Nottingham Forest, in another damaging blow in a season full of set-backs.
West Ham ultimately won the game 1-0, meaning the Gunners sit eleven points behind league leaders Liverpool with 12 games remaining.
- READ MORE: Alan Shearer has made a bold Arsenal transfer claim about Alexander Isak amid striker issues
Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer agree on Myles Lewis-Skelly red card for Arsenal v West Ham
Lewis-Skelly was adjudged to have denied a goal-scoring opportunity, with Kudus likely to have raced clear and have had a one-on-one with David Raya, if he hadn’t been tripped.
Speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer provided their verdict on Pawson and the VAR assistants’ decision to remove the 18-year-old from the field of play.
Lineker said: “I think they were spot on with that one given there was no covering defender anywhere near and Raya was really high up and he [Kudus] would have had, you know, certainly a free shot at goal and it was definitely denying a goal scoring opportunity.
“So I don’t think even the Arsenal fans [can complain], I’ve not seen many complaints about that one.”
Shearer added: “No, I think it’s been a really poor weekend for VAR on some of the officials, but that was one decision they did get right.”
Given Kudus was almost certainly going to reach the ball before Raya, Lineker and Shearer are correct in their assessment.
This is a rule that is consistently implemented across the league, and thus Arsenal can have no complaints.
Myles Lewis-Skelly’s red card v West Ham is Arsenal’s first correct sending off this season
Mikel Arteta’s team’s inability to keep eleven men on the pitch this season has been a huge issue and has almost certainly derailed their title charge.
However, this weekend’s sending-off for Lewis-Skelly was the first of the five that was justifiable.
Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard were dismissed for minor infringements involving delaying the restart, a rule that hasn’t been implemented in any other circumstance across the league.
Meanwhile, William Saliba was sent off for hauling down Evanilson against Bournemouth, on a weekend where an identical incident wasn’t punished.
Lewis-Skelly’s red card against Wolves was overturned after an independent panel came to the conclusion that the challenge was neither reckless nor denying a goal-scoring opportunity.
While Arsenal have done some things wrong this season, the officiating against them regarding red cards has certainly been unjust.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
