Dermot Gallagher explained why Wilfred Ndidi was not sent off in the Arsenal game after gunners fans were frustrated after the events of the past few weeks.
Arsenal have had complaints against refereeing for much of this season after Declan Rice was sent off against Brighton for kicking the ball away.
Last week against Manchester City, Leandro Trossard was also sent off for the same incident. Arsenal are the only club this season to have received two red cards from these situations.
Mikel Arteta was unhappy with both incidents and suggested that his team will ‘play without the ball’ to avoid any more red cards:
“I reflected post match and it’s the same reflection today. I was very clear about it I think.”
“Passing the ball you mean? Yeah. I think so, just leave the ball, don’t touch the ball. We play without the ball.”
What Dermot Gallagher said about the Ndidi incident
During the Arsenal versus Leicester game, Wilfried Ndidi kicked the ball away after a foul in the middle of the pitch, and was not sent off despite also being on a yellow card.
This was Dermot Gallagher’s defence of the decision:
“He doesn’t stop or delay the restart. There’s no one there who can possibly take a free-kick. Saka’s on the floor, can’t take it. There’s not an Arsenal player anywhere near it. If you want players yellow carded for that we’re going to have a lot of players sat in the stands this season.”
The Ex-Premier League referee also explained why Arsenal’s goal stood despite Leicester fans claiming there was a foul in the build up.
“The referee quite clearly says there’s no foul. The game goes on and they score, but it goes on a long time. VAR, in my mind, has no right to go back and re-referee that situation. The on-field referee’s call was no foul and he’s so close.”
Arsenal have been penalized for this incident more than any other club
The explanation given by Dermot Gallagher only brought more confusion to the discussion around delaying restarts in the league.
Arsenal fans are furious because, on one hand they defend the Ndidi incident and on the other hand, this is what Howard Webb said about the Rice incident:
“We’ve messaged very clearly and strongly to the players in pre-season around the importance of not getting involved with the ball once the whistle is gone, not delaying the restart in that way,” Webb said.
“Once he’s seen Declan Rice deliberately, clearly kick that ball away from the position of that free-kick, then I don’t think he’s got any choice.”
This is inconsistent refereeing that has cost Arsenal points in games because they have played with 10-men twice already this season.
