It is being reported that Arsenal have lodged an appeal over Eddie Nketiah’s red card in the 1-1 draw against Leicester last night.
The 20 year old was shown his marching orders just minutes after replacing Alexandre Lacazette. He was first issued a yellow card for a foul on James Justin, but after a VAR check and the referee consulting his pitch-side monitor, was shown a straight red which carries with it an automatic three match ban as it was deemed ‘serious foul play’.
It was a decision which clearly irked Mikel Arteta, who insisted that if that challenge was worthy of a red card, then so too was the one by Jamie Vardy on Shkodran Mustafi at the end of the first half.
The Arsenal boss was also a bit bemused at the process, saying, “I don’t understand the rules, since I’ve been in this country, I’ve never seen a referee check any of the images.
“With the red card decision, he doesn’t see the player, you have to know that he’s a young kid.
“It can be a red card, but then Leicester has to play with 10 men after 42 minutes; for one challenge [Vardy’s on Mustafi] that is between 40 and 45 minutes. That has to be a red card as well.”
This was the fourth red card in 22 games since taking over, and he admits it’s something of a concern.
“It’s the fourth time since I’ve been here that we’ve had to play with ten men,” he said.
“It’s not possible for that long period to play like this against this opposition, you’re going to suffer.”
If the ban is not overturned or reduced, Nketiah will miss Sunday’s North London derby, the visit of Liverpool, and the FA Cup semi-final against Man City.
It feels like the chances of a reprise are slim, but we might as well give it a shot.
You were right on the pod today, the way they were replaying the contact 100x in a row removes all the context from the challenge. It was bad, definitely a borderline red, but without context a definite red
Exactly – but if you look at Vardy’s stamp on Mustafi, there’s definitely intent, I’ve never seen anyone fall like that, finishing with a karate-kick backwards. Is nobody looking at that?
When I saw the Vardy kck on Mustafi live, I thought it was a complete accident, like Blogs (and the referee). Re-watching it, it’s questionable–I’m certainly not as sure as you. In slow motion, however, it’s a definite red. Which may mean Vardy should have been sent off, or it may mean we should be careful about judging things in slow motion. (There is almost no goal that does not look savable when we slow it down enough; you can’t believe the keeper didn’t reach it.)
Why wasn’t Vardy’s foul even checked? I mean Mustafi was kicked in the head…
Nketiah’s ban should get reduced to 1 game, that’s more fair for a lad watching the ball with no previous run-ins/incidents. I know he hit the guy, but you see those tackles almost every game and they are usually a yellow.
I completely agree and it’s why I don’t believe these sorts of incidents should be reviewed on the basis of a slow-motion replay. The game doesn’t happen in slow-motion but in real time. Slow-mo makes everything look worse.
once again VAR adding more subjectivity when it’s purpose is for less. It should be used for off-sides and nothing more. It hasn’t clarified anything in the penalty box or elsewhere in regards to fouls or handballs. Even with their goal, I’m not sure how they cannot see it clip the studs of the Leicester player. 3 very crucial, very borderline calls all go in favour of Leicester and it results in the disappearance of 2 points.
VAR is just a piece of technology. Very good technology. It’s just the people using it or misusing it that are to blame. We have always cried foul as arsenal fans but these were the same officials screwing us when it was widely accepted in England that to beat arsenal you have to kick/foul them. It was widely agreed we were soft so fouls on us were ok and just how to beat us but we were given cards with ease because we were dirty! Look at all the penalties United is getting. Some of them look very soft but… Read more »
there was definitely an intent to catch the challenger, I have never seen someone falling karate style.
If you see the Tarkowski lunge on a West Ham player that was ignored by VAR, a leg breaker, and subsequently ignored then there’s no chance of them revisiting the Vardy kick.
It’s all just totally bent.
This sort of thing is why they should introduce citing into the game. In rugby it allows each team to bring up an incident of serious foul play that the referee may have missed. Its then assessed by an experienced and independent person (in rugby they tend to use retired ex pros)
Not sure that any punishment would be meted out to Vardy, but it would end any debate (and maybe stop some of the sneaky stuff players do to each other).
Actually more hopeful about this one compared to the Aubameyang red. We just might catch a break for once.
I recon a reduction to two games would be fair, to let him play at Wembley. But when have the FA ever done anything logical..
If you replay the Vardy incident over and over with the last second only, the result would be red. Personally I think it has to be both or neither with red.
The problem with Nketiah is that when his foot made contact with the defenders leg the ball was about a foot higher, so it’s quite difficult to see what the defence is. If the shirts were swapped people on here would be going on about opposition players trying to injury our players and proof of one of the ongoing conspiracies against the club. These things never look good when seen in super slow motion but this instance to me seems difficult to argue against. Take it on the chin and move on, my biggest worry is this might be seen… Read more »
The issue is more the inconsistency in officiating, and I’m sure that’s the point Arteta is trying to make — how can you give Eddie a straight red while Vardy, who bloods Mustafi with a dangerous kick, does not even receive a word.
The defense is that he obviously tried pulling his foot back down after he realized he was not going to make it and noticed the defender was so close. Instinctual response in a fraction of a second by a player who only had intentions to knick the ball away.
However I should clarify, I’ve no objections to the red card. Was just an honest mistake though.
More hopeful on this than that of Auba fingers crossed let’s see how it pan out!
Wish they would also pursue the non-call on Vardy’s kick to Mustafi’s head. Blatant and deliberate. Should have seen red.
There is no chance they will accept their mistake.
Agreed. It’s a wasted effort that’ll give us nothing. Take the 3 match ban and move on.
I disagree, just because it’s 99% certain doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pursue it.
So you’re saying there’s a chance?
Genuine question for people who don’t think it was a red for Eddie,
What punishment do they think Maupay deserved? I would argue that Eddie’s tackle was worse but with less Intent, he was late, high with his studs up and if you watch the reply he’s looking away as he does it so it was reckless,
Thoughts?
I do think Varsy should have seen red as well! ?
Maupay deserves a smack in the mouth for how he gobbed off in the post match interview. As for his challenge I hope some thug cunt gives him a taste of his own medicine sometime soon.
I think it’s a red but I am upset Vardy’s tackle didn’t get picked up by VAR, what’s the difference? I understand Vardy’s looked like an unfortunate accident after an aerial duel. Where as Eddie’s was an intentional tackle(not the contact). However the end result is the same, both were unintentional but dangerous play.
Maupay could have had his leg snapped if his foot was planted, Mustafi could have had studs in his eye if his face angled just another few inches. Why does one incident get 100x replays and the other zero?
There is some context to be given to this.The lad is just on the pitch and makes his first tackle which is 50-50 to a point (There is usually some tolerance for first tackles,I believe).I agree the tackle was not pretty,but a yellow card was the most Nketiah deserved.Horrible use of VAR.First they check for the red card,then direct the pitch referee to check the monitor.WTF
And as VAR is meant to adjudge a clear and obvious infringement, why did VAR advise the ref to have another look? If they aren’t sure don’t give the ref an opportunity to upgrade to a red when he initially saw it as a yellow. We’ve all been crying out for the refs to use the monitors all season and of course the very time they use it, it’s to punish us. Remember the disallowed goal against Palace that Atkinson allowed and VAR overruled? Although I wouldn’t trust him to stick to his original decision having seen a monitor ?
In other leagues it is quite normal that the pitch referee checks the monitor much more often and I am all for it. The pitch ref takes the final decision and I find it very strange if the pitch ref decides to give a yellow according to what he has just seen, the little man in his ear tells him “Mate, that was a straight red” and the pitch ref changes his decision just because of what was said to him as compared to what he thinks he has just witnessed. It is not easy to admit a mistake for… Read more »
Shame we can’t appeal to have Vardy banned for his dangerous kick out at Mustafi.
Yup, we should definitely appeal to the FA that Vardy goal be taken off him after upgrading
his karate kick challenge to a red card and then return us our 2 points.
And we being a gentleman club, will take it by the chin for Eddie’s red.
How nice if we can make that happen……….
#POSTMATCHVAR
Blogs – Pretty sure we want a reprieve not a reprise.
Was certain it was a red card when watching it but the more I’ve read about it, the harsher the card looks. You can’t show refs slow motion replays of an incident that needs to be seen at full speed to be judged properly. Makes it look worse than what it was.
https://twitter.com/leemarkjudges/status/1280930562841219072
Well now I’m absolutely fuming
Correct link:
https://twitter.com/leemarkjudges/status/1280930562841219072
If that wasn’t deliberate, the guy must suffer from some form of uncontrollable spasms.
I’ll be surprise if we succeed. Against Spurs we will need to rely on Auba and Laca. I’d be want to upset the chemistry currently anyway with the current line up in all positions. best not to mess around when players are beginning to find fluidity and understanding with each other. This includes : 1) The back 3 (Mustafi-Luiz-Kolasinac…not that we have much choice) 2) Central Mid – Granit-Ceballos axis has been excellent of late plus Laca dropping to control and distribute as a node (much like how Giroud worked for us) 3) Attacking 3 – Auba and Laca chemistry… Read more »
Blogs, we need pull the thread on referees disciplinary treatment of Arsenal… There’s smoke here, I think we need statistical proof and A/B examples of unfair treatment (like Vardy not getting red).
Also, why Arsenal? How have we become the easy targets for referees? We’re not a cynical team. It’s like we’re playing with a different set of rules vs our opponents.
Can someone please logically explain wtf is happening?
Nketiah foul was a red and punished accordingly. Vardy foul was not seen by the ref nor the rest of us at the time, so no VAR. No conspiracy…
Either bad luck – see https://www.givemesport.com/1536769-how-the-201920-premier-league-table-would-look-if-every-refereeing-decision-was-correct or referreeing that is biased against us. Given the number of seasons that we have had bad decisions on balance against us it is hard not to go for the later.
Jeez, Watford fans must be pissed off seeing this – could be the difference between them staying up or not (they wouldn’t even be near the relegation zone if the decisions had been correct).
You get rid of all the controversy if you just allow each team a certain number of appeals per game, say 1 in each half, to be made within 10 seconds, say, of the incident. Once they are used up then you just go back to running the game by the refs decision. Then you’re not relying on whatever method the clowns at Stockley Park are using for deciding whether to review a decision.
That should definitely be implemented. It doesn’t save you from the ref stating that the Vardy Challenge is still no red for him, so the only really objective decisions can just be offside / no offside and ball over the line / not over the line. But it would definitely remove an excuse the refs have now. He could say now that he hasn’t clearly seen the Vardy incident. That excuse would be void if the team could force him to look at scenes. Public scrutiny should be much higher then, if refs are forced to watch scenes and still… Read more »
With video technology there should be the ability to review incidents after the game and restrospectively suspend players for serious foul play. Just because it goes unnoticed in the game or the ref deemed it ‘dealt with’ doesnt mean the person shouldnt be punished.
Exactly, to this point (although petty) I think it is better that Vardy is suspended and Eddie’s red card is not rescinded. Eddie’s was a dangerous foul even if you can say it should be a yellow. The main travesty to me in this situation is that Vardy gets away with purposefully kicking our CB in the head. In times gone by Mustafi would only have to point to the bleeding stud marks on his face to the ref for him to produce a red card. I don’t mean to be sensationalist but it genuinely feels that refereeing, VAR and… Read more »
There is such possibility, but only for incidents for which the ref admits that he hasn’t seen them at all. Players can get banned for that. Let’s say some player off the ball is elbowed in the face and the ref and both assistants look at the ball in a completely different part of the pitch. As soon as the ref states that he has seen the scene and given his verdict during the game, which might also be that he didn’t think that it was a foul at all, there can’t be any belated bans as far as I… Read more »
The off field VAR ref watched the replay 100 times and could NOT decide – therefore NOT obviously a mistake by the ref –
so how come they left it to the ref – Who watched one angle replay for less than 3 seconds and changed his mind
Garbage
I believe they leave it to the ref, because the final decision is taken by him. Pitch ref thought it was yellow, VAR guy said it was a red. And I guess the pitch ref didn’t wanna blindly follow the VAR guy, so he took a look himself. I actually applaud this, because when the final decision is taken by you, you shouldn’t just listen to the opinion of another person, but use all possible methods to conclude your own decision. It could easily be that the VAR ref has a much stricter interpretation of bad fouls and for him… Read more »
Vardy’s kick to the face doesn’t get scrutinised because he is an England player and media darling. See Alan Shearer on Lennon and so on..
Controversial opinion, but I thought both decisions were correct. I know Eddie didn’t meant it, and the 100 replays made it look loads worse, but he was reaching for the ball, and did catch the player on the knee. Really unfortunate, but I can see why it was a red. Vardy went in hard with a body check, which pushed him off axis and his leg flew out as they both went down. Was a foul, maybe a yellow… I get the whole argument that both were inadvertent, and both look dangerous, but there must be a difference between an… Read more »
The thing is the guy who got hit… his leg wasn’t planted.
You can’t take ‘ifs’ into consideration.
Otherwise any time someone controlled the ball in the air it would be red card because ‘if someone’s head was there it would’ve been dangerous’.
The rules state a reckless challenge is a yellow and excessive force or brutality is a red.
Do you really think that challenge was brutal or excessive force? I don’t.
Vardy’s on the other hand looked brutal to me.
I remember Nani being sent off in the Champions League one time because he jumped up to control the ball (the same way Bergkamp and Zola used to do all the time) and collided with an opponent. Same stupid notions of what is and isn’t dangerous/reckless play have been in place for years.
After kicking Mustafi’s face, Vardy was saying Luiz that his elbow hit him. FRAUD!
Hahahahahaha……..dream on lads……this is Arsenal.
Gave me a good laugh tho.
And we think the FA is going to budge? Not a chance