Arsenal found themselves down to 10 men again in the Premier League season when William Saliba came together with Bournemouth striker Evanilson.
A horrible backwards pass from Leandro Trossard caught Saliba out of position with Evanilson trying to pounce on the ball. Saliba made contact with the striker as he went to ground. Referee Rob Jones blew his whistle and originally awarded the French defender a yellow card after some deliberation. After VAR recommended that Jones go check the monitor to review his on-field decision, the yellow card was rescinded and Saliba was sent off. It's the first red card of his career.
RED CARD for Arsenal's William Saliba. 🟥
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) October 19, 2024
The defender is sent off after the referee judged he denied a clear goalscoring opportunity for Bournemouth. pic.twitter.com/ddAOjVDXKH
The controversy comes from not particularly the contact Saliba made on Evanilson, but more from the surrounding factor: Benjamin White. There's no doubting Saliba impeded the Bournemouth striker, but more of if White would've gotten back in time to deny the opportunity. As Peter Drury put it on the broadcast: "Now you can debate the length of the day and the night how obvious that was. Can you know Evanilson was going to go on and score? Can you be certain that his run was dovetailing with the arrival of the ball? There is so much to pick out of that." Another factor to consider is that David Raya starts to back up toward his net.
Giving the referee, or VAR, to make the decision is silly enough considering the possibility of White getting back to defend or David Raya making a save or Evanilson missing the target. Regardless, outside of an appeal, Saliba will miss the next three Premier League games.
It was Arsenal's third red card in eight games, a frightening statistic for fans hoping to finally topple Manchester City in the Premier League. It's also not the first mired in controversy. Declan Rice and Trossard were both sent off earlier in the season for delaying the restart against Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively. Both situations resulted in a second yellow card whereas Saliba's was a straight red.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Arsenal's William Saliba Red Card vs. Bournemouth Draws Controversy.
