PREMIER LEAGUE

Should William Saliba be given red card against Bournemouth?

The red card for Arsenal defender William Saliba against Bournemouth has been a huge talking point over the weekend.

Title contenders Arsenal said goodbye to their unbeaten start to the season on Saturday as they crumbled in front of Bournemouth 2-0. The visitors began the game in a good fashion by making chances in their opposition penalty area. It was all good for Arsenal until a moment of carelessness from Leandro Trossard got William Saliba sent off during the first half. That altered the match dynamics to its head. The game started to swing in the direction of the home side. Later, two second half goals from Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert meant the Gunners conceded their first defeat of the season. The result also hampered their hopes of staying in close proximity to rivals Man City and Liverpool. Anyway the red card received by William Saliba sparked huge talking points all over social media and all the broadcasting studios.

We will be talking about the incident that led to the Red Card, its legitimacy and the future implications. The former PGMOL boss Keith Hackett also provides his verdict on the issue.

THE WILLIAM SALIBA RED CARD INCIDENT

Let’s begin with the incident. Arsenal were at the ascendancy during the first part of the game. And Bournemouth forwards were waiting to pounce on counter attacks or defensive mistakes. That was their plan because they know that Arsenal would like to have the majority of possession at their hands. Anyway during the 28 minute mark the Gunners forward Leandro Trossard gave a careless back pass. The Belgian just casually lofted the ball back which left William Saliba on the wrong foot. So the Bournemouth number nine, Evanilson sniffed at the opportunity and started sprinting towards the ball. Saliba, who was always going to end up on the losing side in that run, tripped down the forward. Even though the referee Rob Jones handed a yellow card at first, after consulting with VAR, overturned his decision and displayed a Red Card.

The Arsenal defender didn’t complain and left the pitch immediately. That was the third Red Card of the season for Arsenal in nine Premier League games. The dismissal altered the match dynamics as the Gunners had to sacrifice Raheem Sterling in order to bring on a defender. This left the visitors’ attack man less while Bournemouth took charge of the game. The home side started to ponder consistent pressure on the Arsenal defence which they fended off until the 70th minute when Ryan Christie found the back of the net. Later on, Justin Kluivert doubled their lead from the spot. However this has led to severe implications at Arsenal’s title hopes because of two reasons. One, they dropped points and also this leaves Arsenal without William Saliba for next week’s titanic clash against Liverpool. A moment of carelessness from Trossard and Saliba can now jeopardize their title challenge.

Just look at the stats of Arsenal with and without Saliba. Then you’ll understand how big a loss he is going to be next weekend.

KEITH HECKET’S VERDICT

The former head of the match officials association and former PL referee Keith Hackett has explained about the William Saliba red card incident. The incident sparked so many controversial talks as always, citing various previous incidents. There are two opinions from the pundits about the incident.

The comments from the commentator Jon Champion which was taken up by rival fans on social media.

Anyway, Heckett actually sides with Rob Jones on his decision. He believes that it should be a Red card and the carelessness of the French center back should be penalized.

Hackett, writing in The Telegraph, has detailed why the Frenchman was correctly shown a straight red card.

Hacket went on to explain the law by saying that, while judging incidents like denying a goal opportunity. We should consider factors like the distance between the attack and the goal, the direction of the play, the likelihood of controlling the ball, the location and the number of defenders in the area. Which on this occasion favored Bournemouth.

“In this incident, with Bournemouth on the attack, Evanilson got the wrong side of Saliba and looked to be clean through on goal before he came together with the defender and was brought down. Upon review after stepping aside to watch replays of the moment, referee Rob Jones cancelled out the yellow card he had already flashed and showed Saliba a red instead.” Said the former referee.

“The challenge by Saliba was careless so the referee is always going to award a free-kick in this area of the pitch, in line with the law, so it should be a red card.” Hacket concluded.

A trusted source on GoonerNews.com

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