Arsenal were unlucky not to have William Saliba on the pitch for the whole of their eventual 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth, says former Premier League referee Mark Halsey. The Frenchman was sent off just 30 minutes into the clash after a VAR review.
Initially only handed a yellow card by Rob Jones, Saliba was given a red card for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity. Racing back to defend following Leandro Trossad’s poor pass, Saliba brought down Evanilson as he went to chase down the ball.
The decision went down poorly with the travelling away fans, who had already seen Declan Rice and Trossard sent off in frustrating fashion this season. It leaves Arsenal having only dropped points in the league in matches they have played partially down to 10 men.
Halsey, reviewing the incident, thinks it could have gone another way. “I had major doubts over William Saliba’s red card and would have stayed with referee Rob Jones’ on-field decision of a caution.
