With a late goal by half-time substitute Gabriel Martinelli handing Arsenal their first Premier League win over Manchester City since December 2015 and ending a 12-match losing streak in the league against their title rivals, the Gunners may not give as much thought to a controversial first-half as they otherwise would have.
But after red cards and VAR proved pivotal in last weekend’s battle between Tottenham and Liverpool, there will be more questions asked of top flight officiating following referee Michael Oliver’s decision not to send off City midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
The former Chelsea man committed two near-identical fouls within minutes of each other in the first half of Sunday’s headline match, and can probably count himself lucky to have escaped with just one yellow card.
Half an hour in, Kovacic first slid in to a challenge on Martin Odegaard but caught the Arsenal skipper on the back of the ankle and was shown a yellow card for his troubles.
Mateo Kovačić escapes with just a yellow for this challenge on Martin Ødegaard
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2023pic.twitter.com/dHPyZZzr7H
Despite outcry from Mikel Arteta and just about every red and white shirt in the Emirates, the VAR team of John Brooks and Darren Cann did not see anything they deemed worthy of a second look by their on-field colleague – a decision former Gunners forward Theo Walcott was in full disagreement with.
“As soon as it went to VAR and I saw it slowed down, I thought red card straight away,” Walcott said on Sky Sports.
“It’s a nasty tackle when you see how he hits him on the ankle. For me, it’s a red card without any question and that’s not me with my Arsenal head on. I genuinely think that’s endangering the player.”
But on the game went, with Kovacic still in it. Mere minutes later, the Croatia international’s studs collided with Declan Rice – yet this time no card at all was produced from Oliver’s pocket, and play continued with a free-kick to the hosts.
A closer look at Mateo Kovačić's foul on Declan Rice
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2023pic.twitter.com/yiTLyh3PW5
Former City defender Micah Richards maintained that a yellow card was the right punishment for Kovacic’s first challenge, but conceded that the foul on Rice should have been met with a second yellow.
Sky Sports colleague and former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville concurred, adding: “I think [Kovacic] is lucky, I think he’s very lucky!
“He gets Rice’s right foot. What is he doing? He should be off.”
“I think that’s a mistake [from the referee]. Kovacic has to go for that. I’m amazed he’s not.”
In the end, Kovacic would remain on the pitch until half-time and then for another 20 minutes after it, before being hooked after 67 minutes and replaced by Matheus Nunes.
As soon as Martinelli’s 86th minute strike deflected in off the head of City defender Nathan Ake, the majority of the complaints from Arsenal around the decision not to send Kovacic off will have no doubt dissipated.
But for many, those two incidents will serve as just the latest examples of inconsistency in officiating this season, after Liverpool’s Curtis Jones and Chelsea’s Malo Gusto were dismissed for challenges no worse than either of Kovacic’s.
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