A 10-man Arsenal were put to the sword by Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth, who had Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert to thank for their goals in the 70th and 79th minute, respectively.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: The last title-winning team to receive three red cards over a 38-game season were Leicester in 2015/16.
The Frenchman will now be out of action for the Gunners’ impending top flight fixture against table-topping Liverpool – but Halsey is under the impression that Mikel Arteta and Co were hard done by.
Halsey Holds ‘Three Doubts’ over Saliba Dismissal
'I would have stayed with Rob Jones’ on-field decision of a caution'
William Saliba
Saliba, regarded as one of the best defenders in the world, was initially shown a yellow card for pulling back Bournemouth’s Evanilson as he looked to charge down on the Arsenal goal. The man in the middle, Rob Jones, however, was sent to the monitor by Video Assistant Referee (VAR) – led, on the day, by Jared Gillett – and then upgraded the Frenchman’s caution to a dismissal.
In his column for The Sun, Halsey, who officiated in the Premier League for 14 years before retiring in 2013, wrote: “I had major doubts over William Saliba’s red card and would have stayed with Rob Jones’ on-field decision of a caution. The Arsenal defender fouled Bournemouth striker Evanilson but was it a clear and obvious error for VAR to intervene?”
"It’s a subjective decision, so I didn’t think VAR Jarred Gillett needed to get involved. For the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, we look at four key criteria. And I had doubts over three of those."
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Halsey explained that not only was the distance between Saliba’s offence and the goalmouth, where David Raya was back-pedalling, was ‘lengthy’ but also the flight of Leandro Trossard’s terribly misplaced pass and the number of defenders in the frame.
"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.”
The 43-year-old ex-official continued: “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."
After suffering their first away defeat of 2024, the north Londoners will be looking to return to winning ways on Tuesday as they welcome Ukrainian outfit, Shakhtar Donetsk, under the lights in the Champions League.
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