Once again there was an Arsenal fixture that had its controversy. It seems to be happening a lot this season.
In the main, however, pundits and supporters alike agreed that William Saliba was right to be sent off against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. Not everyone agreed, though.
Match official Rob Jones initially gave the Arsenal centre-back a yellow card when he brought down Bournemouth striker Evanilson just over the halfway line. But he was invited to review his decision on the pitchside monitor by the VAR and subsequently upgraded that yellow card to a red.
It was already the third time this season – in just eight matches – that the Gunners have been reduced to ten men, with Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard sent off previously for delaying a restart by kicking the ball away.
This season ‘Referee’s call’ has come into effect, whereby VARs will look at incidents with regard to penalty decisions and fouls, but will not suggest the referee overturns his or her decision if it is a subjective call. So if a VAR does not believe a clear and obvious error has been made, the on-field decision will stand.
The VAR on duty for Bournemouth vs Arsenal was Jarred Gillett and he deemed Jones to have made a clear and obvious error in only showing Saliba a yellow card, suggesting it be upgraded to red.
But given the conditions for a red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity include ‘distance between the offence and the goal’ and ‘likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball’, it could be argued that a clear and obvious error has not been made.
The Premier League have backed their man, with Gillett involved in not one but two matches for the upcoming weekend’s action. It will be only the second time this season Gillett has had a double gameweek.
The referee has not had a weekend off so far this season, being the on-field referee on four occasions and the VAR on five occasions. This weekend he takes on a slightly lesser role as the assistant VAR for the match between Aston Villa and Bournemouth on Saturday, before being the VAR for the match between Chelsea and Newcastle on Sunday.
