Tottenham defender Emerson Royal was sent off in the North London Derby for a rash challenge on Gabriel Martinelli during Arsenal's 3-1 win at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners were 2-1 up at the time when the Brazilian defender stood on Martinelli's ankle resulting in Anthony Taylor deciding to send the Spurs star off. Many pundits and fans alike feel that the decision to send Royal off 'killed the game' as Arsenal took full control for the remainder of the game and scored a third through Granit Xhaka.
Mikel Arteta's side extended the gap to their north London rivals to four points following the win at the weekend and have began to pull away from the pack along with Manchester City. Pep Guardiola's side remain just a point behind the Gunners in the Premier League table, but the two teams won't play each other until their postponed match is rearranged.
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It's not the first situation in which a player has seemingly 'accidentally' trodden on an opposition player's ankle when pressing to win the ball back. Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk and Newcastle's Fabian Schar both were involved in similar incidents to that of Royal's red card, but both were shown yellow cards instead of being sent off.
VAR reviewed all three incidents and decided to uphold the on-field decision on each occasion. Whilst Tottenham fans may complain that Royal was sent off whilst Van Dijk and Schar were able to stay on the pitch, there are some key factors to take into consideration regarding Taylor's decision.
As per ESPN, Taylor viewed the Van Dijk and Royal incidents differently because of two reasons that decide serious foul play: endangering the safety of an opponent and the use of excessive force. While the contact on Onana was high, Van Dijk mistimed a genuine attempt to play the ball and there was neither the force or the nature of the contact on the shin to be deemed a clear missed red card by the VAR.
Royal didn't put any real force in his challenge, but it was how he made contact with Martinelli, with no realistic ability to play the ball, in a way that was dangerous to the opponent. These incidents are likely to occur regularly throughout the season with many teams deploying a high press, and it may well depend on the referee taking charge on the day, but Taylor's decision to show a red card to Royal is deemed as an acceptable disciplinary outcome.
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