January 25th 2025.
Arsenal, led by Mikel Arteta, put up a valiant fight to secure a victory against Wolves. However, the post-match discussions were dominated by Arteta's harsh criticism of referee Michael Oliver's decision to send off Myles Lewis-Skelly during the game.
The Gunners were able to stay in the running for the Premier League title thanks to Riccardo Calafiori's goal in the second half. However, the focus shifted to the controversial dismissal of Lewis-Skelly, who was essentially the replacement for Calafiori. The player was expecting a yellow card for a cynical trip on Matt Doherty, especially since it happened on the edge of the Wolves' penalty area.
But to his surprise, Lewis-Skelly was shown a red card by Oliver, with the decision being upheld by VAR. The challenge was deemed as "serious foul play", leaving the teenager and his teammates stunned. When asked for his reaction to the decision, Arteta did not hold back and stated, "It is that clear that I leave it to you guys. I am absolutely fuming but I leave it with you. Because it is that obvious. I don't think my words are going to help."
As a consequence, Lewis-Skelly will have to serve a three-match ban, unless Arsenal is successful with an appeal. Arteta was asked if the club would attempt to get the ban lifted, to which he responded, "That's for the club to decide what the best decision is. I think it's that obvious, maybe we don't even need to."
The passion with which Arteta celebrated Arsenal's goal was evident. In his post-match press conference, he expressed his hope that the Premier League would see the incident in a similar light as the one involving Bruno Fernandes earlier in the season, where his red card was overturned.
"Hopefully we don't need to," Arteta said. "If we have to, there is a really good precedent with what happened with Bruno this season as well. Hopefully, we were in a position we shouldn't have been in, but at least we have a player who is allowed to do his job for the next few weeks."
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean attempted to defend his colleague's decision, but Alan Shearer, a former England captain, was left dumbfounded. "As a referee, you can get it wrong on the pitch," said Shearer. "But how on earth does Darren England, the VAR, think that the referee got it right and there was no need to go to the screen? One of the worst decisions that I've seen in a long time. I just cannot understand what VAR was thinking in going along with Michael Oliver's decision. It's no wonder it gets criticized by so many people."
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
