Referees’ chief Howard Webb has admitted that Michael Oliver was wrong not to send off Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic at Arsenal on Sunday.
Webb said Oliver should have shown Kovacic a second yellow for scything down Declan Rice and also said he was “extremely fortunate” not to be given a red card for an earlier foul on Martin Odegaard.
Speaking on last night’s episode of Match Officials Mic’d Up, Webb said: “This is clearly a poor tackle and I’m pretty confident if a red card had been given, it would’ve been a very straightforward ‘check complete’ [by VAR].
“When [Oliver] reflects on it, he’ll realise that the second one should have been a yellow card as well, which would have seen Kovacic sent off for two yellow cards.”
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said of the incident: “When I saw the action live, it looked like a big challenge but I haven’t seen the replay.
“I just want to enjoy the win, we will talk about it and understand we have to do something about it but thankfully we managed to win the game.”
Webb offered no apology for the Liverpool offside blunder at Tottenham last month.
But he said the officials involved were right not to stop the match. “They recognised the laws, as set by Fifa and the International FA Board [IFAB], don’t allow that,” he said.
