Arsenal loanee Ethan Nwaneri has sparked outrage after getting away without a red card for a horror challenge which left his opponent badly injured.
The 18-year-old started for Marseille, whom he joined on loan last month, as they hosted Rennes in the Coupe de France on Tuesday night, but only completed half of the match.
With 23 minutes played and Olympique already leading through Amine Gouiri’s early strike, Nwaneri threw himself into a reckless challenge on Glen Kamara, catching him high on the ankle in a sickening collision.
The Rennes midfielder was forced off after the contact, while Nwaneri got away with just a yellow card.
32' : Touché il y a quelques instants par un très gros tacle marseillais, sanctionné d'un seul carton jaune, Glen Kamara est contraint de sortir du terrain. Mahamadou Nagida entre en jeu.#OMSRFC 1-0 pic.twitter.com/vnp1PqYIp5
— Stade Rennais F.C. (@staderennais) February 3, 2026
Luckily for Nwaneri, VAR was not in operation for the match, though he was hooked at half-time by Roberto De Zerbi anyway after he put in another clumsy foul on Quentin Merlin.
Come the full-time whistle, Rennes manager Habib Beye claimed the match officials admitted to him that Nwaneri should have been sent off.
According to Eurosport, he was caught on camera telling De Zerbi: “If it's on the other side, it's a red card.”
Beye doubled down post-match, adding: "The match was altered by our early mistake and by that of the refereeing trio who had the honesty to admit it."
🟨 Très vilain tacle de Nwaneri sur Kamara ! L'Anglais prend un carton jaune et ça ne changera pas puisqu'il n'y a pas de VAR à ce stade de la compétition. Le banc rennais est en colère !https://t.co/oWnGAAiSbJ pic.twitter.com/GbDIYXt016
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) February 3, 2026
French media have slammed Nwaneri for the tackle on Kamara, the severity of whose injury remains unclear.
RMC Sport described the action as “very nasty,” adding that he “got away with it” due to the lack of VAR.
Eurosport dubbed it “horrific”, agreeing that Nwaneri should have been dismissed, while La Provence rated his performance at just 4/10.
Nwaneri will return to action next week as Marseille visit Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
