A former Premier League referee has given his thoughts on William Saliba’s red card during Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday evening.
Mikel Arteta’s side were handed their first defeat of the season by the Cherries. The huge talking point during the game was Saliba’s sending-off.
On the 30-minute mark, a mistimed pass by Leandro Trossard looped the ball over the Arsenal defence, releasing Brazilian forward Evanilson. Saliba then tugged the forward’s shirt before he fell to the ground.
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Initially, Saliba was shown a yellow card by referee Rob Jones, but it was overturned after a review. This means the defender will miss Arsenal’s home match against Liverpool on October 27.
There was some debate about the severity of the challenge. Saliba was a fair way from goal when he pulled down Evanilson, but he was still arguably the ‘last man’ in the defensive line.
Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has explained his thoughts on the decision, saying he had “major doubts” over the decision and would have “stayed with Rob Jones’ on-field decision of a caution” via The Sun.
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He then went on to explain how “four key criteria” need to be met for a foul to be a denial of a goal-scoring opportunity.
“The distance between the offence and the goal was lengthy, the general direction of play saw the ball coming across Evanilson and not in front of him and also the location and number of defenders was questionable,” Halsey explained.
“The likelihood of him keeping or gaining control of the ball would have probably been in the favour of the Cherries forward because David Raya was back-pedalling towards his own goal.”
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Fans also spotted PGMOL chief Howard Webb in the stands at the Vitality, but Halsey insisted Webb would’ve had no input regarding the decision.
“There is no way he would have had any input or communication into the [William] Saliba red card,” he added.
The question of whether the challenge warranted such drastic action was also put to Arteta after the game.
“Obviously, they are the best intentions, and Wilo [William Saliba] has never done anything like this, and he doesn’t do it even on purpose,” Arteta said via Arsenal.com.
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“I don’t know, it’s a split-second decision you have to make, the striker is on his back. Obviously, he doesn’t expect the ball and then suddenly it’s coming his way,” Arteta added.
“He’s made a decision, and that’s it, the referee has decided to give a yellow and then a red card.”
Topics: Arsenal, Premier League, William Saliba, Mikel Arteta, VAR, Football
Luke Alfred Davies