As much as we don't like Arsenal as a club and a fanbase these days, even we had to sympathise with them at the weekend after referee Michael Oliver made one of the worst decisions we've seen in a while.
Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly was shown a straight red card for a trip on Wolves defender Matt Doherty. The offence took place deep in Arsenal's own half with plenty of cover to prevent Doherty going too far, it wasn't a dangerous challenge by any means, and yet the ref went straight for the red.
The incident was looked at by VAR and they somehow stuck with the on-field decision.
Looking at the replays it was clear there was no malicious intent there, but Lewis-Skelly's boot was around ankle height, so it was definitely a yellow card offence, but never a red.
Since the incident though, Arsenal fans have taken things too far with the PGMOL having to release a statement condemning the levels of abuse directed at Michael Oliver which included death threats.
We've said it before, every fanbase has its nutters who can't control themselves on social media, but it just seems like Arsenal's proportion of radgies to normal people is skewed very much the wrong way.
We even saw one Arsenal fan try to pass off the David Coote revelations as a smokescreen to distract from Michael Oliver's mistake. As if Coote planned to come out as gay in a national newspaper and for the story to be released to cover for an event that hadn't even happened at the time of the interview. Madness.
Of course, the conspiracies around Michael Oliver doing it because he's a Newcastle United fan are also out there.
Arsenal's appeal has been upheld by the FA and Lewis-Skelly's three-match ban has been rescinded.
Newcastle already have a 2-0 lead going into the second leg, so the odds were already stacked against the Gunners, the last thing they needed is for another player to be missing.
We are happy to see an injustice being overturned for the sake of the game, but it would have been pure comedy if it had gone the other way.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
![]() |
23 | 35 | 56 |
2 |
![]() |
24 | 27 | 50 |
3 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 47 |
4 |
![]() |
24 | 16 | 43 |
5 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 41 |
6 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 41 |
7 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 40 |
8 |
![]() |
24 | -3 | 37 |
9 |
![]() |
24 | 4 | 36 |
10 |
![]() |
24 | -3 | 34 |
11 |
![]() |
24 | 0 | 31 |
12 |
![]() |
24 | -2 | 30 |
13 |
![]() |
24 | -6 | 29 |
14 |
![]() |
24 | 11 | 27 |
15 |
![]() |
24 | -17 | 27 |
16 |
![]() |
23 | -5 | 26 |
17 |
![]() |
24 | -18 | 19 |
18 |
![]() |
24 | -28 | 17 |
19 |
![]() |
24 | -27 | 16 |
20 |
![]() |
24 | -36 | 9 |