An infuriated Mikel Arteta shared a tense exchange with referee Michael Oliver during the aftermath of Arsenal‘s 1-0 win over Wolves, which saw another contentious Gunners red card steal the headlines.
Oliver gave 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly his marching orders on the cusp of half-time for a foul on Matt Doherty as Wolves were breaking away from an Arsenal set-piece.
It resulted in the visiting players surrounding Oliver in fury. There was initial confusion over whether the red card was due to Lewis-Skelly denying a goalscoring opportunity, despite the incident taking place 90 yards away from goal.
But the PGMOL’s Match Centre account on X confirmed that the challenge had been deemed as ‘serious foul play’, which was checked by the VAR Darren England.
Arsenal’s fourth red card of the season, it left fans, players and staff alike apoplectic, with many bewildered on how Lewis-Skelly’s challenge could be seen as anything more than yellow card offence.
And at full-time, one fan caught Arteta appearing to not mince words with Oliver before pausing, turning back and giving the referee a dirty stare.
Mikel Arteta shared a tense exchange with referee Michael Oliver at the full-time whistle after falling victim to yet another contentious red card in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Wolves
Arsenal teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly (right) was shown a straight red card away to Wolves
Lewis-Skelly was dismissed for ‘serious foul play’ following a challenge on Matt Doherty
The Spanish manager then went on to celebrate with his players, overjoyed that the controversial decision did not cost the Gunners the three points.
Nevertheless, Arteta remained ‘fuming’ at the red card as he undertook his post-match press duties and confirmed that Arsenal will appeal the decision if it’s not automatically overturned by the FA.
Arteta said: ‘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.
‘Hopefully we don’t need to (appeal the red card) and if we have to, it happened and it’s a really good precedent what happened with Bruno (Fernandes) this season as well. We are in a position we shouldn’t be in.’
Manchester United’s Fernandes was sent off against Tottenham on September 29, 2024, but his red card was overturned by the FA after a successful appeal.
On his team’s comeback performance, Arteta added: ‘That is what they show us every single day.
‘This season is very special for many circumstances. With Mikel (Merino) and Martin (Odegaard) out, we had to come to a very difficult opponent that is fighting relegation and we had another issue in the match.’
