Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori has criticised the referee for showing Leandro Trossard a red card in the Premier League match against Manchester City. The controversial incident unfolded at the Etihad Stadium a few moments before the halftime. Arsenal were leading 2-1 when Trossard fouled Bernardo Silva while trying to receive an aerial pass. Referee Michael Oliver had immediately blown the whistle but Trossard turned a deaf ear to it and kicked the ball away. The Belgian, who was already on a booking, saw his second yellow for, allegedly, delaying the game.
Riccardo Calafiori felt that his teammate was perhaps unable to hear the whistle and that could be the reason why he did not stop after the foul. Calafiori, who scored his first goal for Arsenal on Sunday, shared his view on Leandro Trossard’s red card during the post-match interview. According to the Italian defender, the sent-off did nothing but affect the tempo of the high-voltage game.
“I don’t want to say too much, but the referee, for me, they have to do their job to keep the game good to watch, but in these kinds of actions, they don’t have to put themselves too much. I think Leo didn’t even hear the whistle,” Riccardo Calafiori said, as quoted by the Mirror. “And come on, you have to do your job, not more. You don’t have to do too much on the pitch. Let the guys play, let the teams play, because these are pure spectacles,” he added.
Despite going down to ten men, Arsenal put up a neck-and-neck fight against Manchester City in the second half. The visitors had held on to a one-goal lead till stoppage time when John Stones struck the equaliser for the reigning Premier League champions.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was proud of the team’s gritty performance in the away clash. He, however, refused to make any comment about Leandro Trossard’s red card in the post-match presser. “I think it’s very clear. Very obvious. Hopefully what 100 per cent of what people thinks. It’s not my job to come here and judge what happened. My job is to survive in the most difficult environment you can throw in football for 55 minutes. And try to get things done to survive. That’s my job, the rest is not my job.” Arteta told, as per Sky Sports.
It was the second time in three matches that Arsenal saw their players seeing the red card for this sort of offence. Earlier, Declan Rice had to sit out of the North London derby after he was given the marching orders against Brighton. He returned to the playing XI ahead of the Premier League fixture against Manchester City.
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