Premier League referee who gets paid by Manchester City owners has been named
Following the controversy surrounding refereeing decisions following Tottenham’s win over Liverpool last week, PGMOL may have breathed a sigh of relief that a major decision did not alter the outcome of Arsenal’s match against Manchester City on Sunday.
Mateo Kovacic would have dominated the discussion following Arsenal’s titanic fight with Manchester City had Gabriel Martinelli not struck late on via a cruel Nathan Ake deflection.
Sunday’s game had little action, with both managers, both of whom were without key players, appearing to be content with a point. After coming close to opening the score from a set piece early on, City rarely got a sniff of David Raya’s goal, and while the hosts were boosted by Martinelli’s introduction at half-time, Ederson wasn’t put to the test before being caught off guard for the winner.
However, if the Gunners had not won all three points, Gooners would have cried foul even louder, given that Kovacic escaped a red card in the first half.
During a handful of minutes of craziness before halftime, the Croatian midfielder could have been sent off twice.
The initial challenge Kovacic made on Martin Odegaard was reckless. When Kovacic came flying in, the Arsenal captain was in an innocuous position, receiving a pass from William Saliba. With his studs lifted, the City man caught Odegaard right above the ankle.
Michael Oliver was quick to brandish a yellow card, but because to the nature of the challenge, VAR looked for a potential red card. However, Kovacic’s foul was deemed insufficiently dangerous to overrule Oliver’s on-field ruling. Many thought the tackle deserved a ‘orange card,’ which was midway between a booking and a red card. VAR would not have intervened if Oliver had given Kovacic a straight red.
The more egregious call came just six minutes later, when Kovacic needlessly challenged an Arsenal midfielder again. Declan Rice was caught late by the Croatia international on this occasion, with Sky Sports co-commentator Gary Neville ominously exclaiming “Oh no…” as Kovavic surged in without getting a piece of the ball and catching Rice’s ankle.
When Oliver blew up for the foul, it felt like an obvious booking, but the referee instead ignored Arsenal’s allegations that Kovacic should be sent off.
“I believe he is fortunate, very fortunate!” He manages to get Rice’s right foot. What is he up to? On commentary, Neville remarked, “He should be off.” That was the unanimous opinion, with veteran Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher suggesting the combination of Kovacic’s challenges deserved a red card.
After determining that Oliver had not made a clear and apparent error in his assessment of Kovacic’s tackle on Odegaard, which resulted in a yellow card, the VAR was rendered ineffective when the referee chose not to give the midfielder his second caution.
Since its introduction into the Premier League, the technology has only been able to attract the referee’s attention to a potential red card. The VAR may not intervene to make a decision on a probable second yellow card.
While Kovacic’s challenge on Rice was late and sloppy, it was far from deserving of a straight red card.
