Premier League admit Arsenal red card mistake after referee made wrong decision | Football | Sport
The Premier League‘s Key Match Incidents Panel have determined that Mikel Merino ought to have been dismissed during Arsenal‘s commanding 4-1 victory over Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium on December 30. With the Gunners leading 2-0, Merino hauled back Morgan Rogers in the 58th minute, but official Darren England opted against showing the Spanish midfielder a second yellow card.
In a unanimous verdict, the panel determined that Merino had ‘clearly stopped a promising attack by pulling the arm of Rogers, and a second caution should have been awarded’. As VAR is unable to intervene on second yellow-card matters, Merino stayed on the field.
Villa protested at the time that it should have been Merino’s second booking of the contest, having already been cautioned for a challenge on Amadou Onana just before the interval.
The Key Match Incidents Panel’s verdicts from the opening half of the campaign reveal that Mikel Arteta‘s team enjoyed the benefit of just one VAR mistake.
Ex-Premier League official Mark Halsey, when questioned about the incident, posted on X: “This was a deliberate holding offence by Merino on Rogers that should have resulted in a 2nd [yellow card emoji] for denying a promising attack.”
Asked whether a player’s existing booking influences the referee’s thinking, Halsey responded: “Not every challenge is a [yellow card emoji].
“Referee’s will judge challenge’s on its merits, IMO [in my opinion] there are far too many [yellow card emoji] shown unnecessarily referee’s have lost the art of managing these players.
“The holding offence by Merino was a nailed on 2nd [yellow card emoji].”
Had Merino received his marching orders, Villa may well have clawed their way back into the contest, but Arteta spotted the risk and withdrew the Spaniard just over 10 minutes later.
Gabriel Magalhaes, Martin Zubimendi, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus all got on the scoresheet, whilst Ollie Watkins grabbed a stoppage-time consolation for the away side.
Arsenal lead the Premier League table, 14 points ahead of reigning champions Liverpool, whilst Manchester City and Villa trail the Gunners by six points in second and third place respectively.
The north Londoners return to Carabao Cup duty on Wednesday evening, taking on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, before making the trip to Nottingham Forest for a Premier League fixture on Saturday.
