Arsenal fans have hit the roof on social media.
Chelsea’s Tosin Adarabioyo escaped a red card on Sunday (20 October) for an identical offence that saw William Saliba handed his marching orders against Bournemouth. It was a frustrating evening for the Gunners, who were downed by the Cherries.
Diogo Jota had seemingly broken Chelsea’s defensive line when he was pulled back by the defender. But referee John Brooks only dished out a yellow card to the Blues’ star – to the fury of the Gunners’ faithful.
“One rule for Arsenal. One rule for everyone else,” one fan fumed. While a second said: “VAR made a blunder, such inconsistency, this should have been a red!”
“That’s more of a f***ing red than Saliba’s. I f***ing hate this league,” a third angrily posted. And another added: “The inconsistency of these Premier League referees is sickening, what’s exactly the difference between this and the Saliba’s red card!”
Liverpool and Arsenal are set to lock horns next weekend – with Saliba set to miss the game as a result of the red card.
Clearing up why Saliba was sent off against Bournemouth, the Premier League’s match centre account on X shared: “The referee gave Saliba a yellow card for a challenge on Evanilson. The VAR deemed that Saliba denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and recommended an on-field review.
“The referee then upgraded the yellow to a red card.”
(Image: PA)
“It was a decision made on the pitch,” Mikel Arteta said. “That decision was changed. I don’t think it will change twice. The decision has been made.
“We are very disappointed with the result and gutted because we had to play in that context again. Even more difficult than the previous two that we have faced this season to do it with 65 or 68 minutes with 10 men at this level, it’s just an impossible task.”
He added when asked if he’ll appeal the decision: “A decision has been made, so that’s it.”