Arsenal have been told by a former Premier League referee that Myles Lewis-Skelly deserved a red card during the Gunners’ 7-1 win over PSV in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Jurrien Timber, Ethan Nwaneri, Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori all got on the scoresheet for Arsenal in their mauling of PSV, but things could have turned out a lot differently had they been reduced to 10 men.
Lewis-Skelly has already received two red cards in his short time in the Arsenal first team – one of which was overturned – and picked up an early yellow card at the Philips Stadium in Eindhoven when he fouled Luuk de Jong.
Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly should have been sent off
Soon after picking up that yellow card, Lewis-Skelly committed another foul, this time against Richard Ledezma, that could feasibly have seen him pick up another booking and given his marching orders.
The 18-year-old escaped with any punishment, however, with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta quickly deciding to substitute him in the 35th minute for Calafiori. That decision proved a masterstroke, with a former Premier League referee commending Arteta’s choice.
“We witnessed a little bit of inconsistent officiating,” Keith Hackett told Football Insider.
“I thought the first yellow for Lewis-Skelly was a little weak but then having got that yellow he commits a very clear yellow card offence by bringing his opponent down and stopping a promising attack; for which he should have then walked.
“He didn’t. But his manager was alert and had seen what had happened and rightly subbed him. That maintained the 11 players on the field of play for the remainder of the game.”
Lewis-Skelly will still be available for the return leg of the last-16 tie at the Emirates Stadium next Wednesday, where the Gunners will be extremely confident of progressing to the quarters.
At the moment their progression in the competition will pit them up against Real Madrid, who beat cross-city rivals Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeu thanks to goals from Rodrygo and Brahim Diaz.
Arsenal, though, are back in Premier League action on Sunday as they head to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United.
