Wolves 0-1 Arsenal: Gunners dig deep after another disgraceful refereeing decision

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

Ten man Arsenal came away from Wolves with all three points yesterday, despite the best efforts of referee Michael Oliver who once again issued an absurd red card to one of our players.

A few years ago, Gabriel Martinelli was given two yellow cards inside 7 seconds for two offences at this very same ground – the kind of sending off you’ve never seen before or since. Yesterday, Myles Lewis-Skelly was given a straight red card for an obvious yellow card offence, a decision compounded by the fact the idiots in VAR saw the video and decided that yes, this was ‘serious foul play’. I say idiots, but perhaps cowards is a better description because they were too scared to tell Oliver he’d got it wrong.

We have had some dodgy red cards this season. The Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard cards that no other team has seen players sent off for, and while I think the William Saliba red at Bournemouth was iffy by virtue of the fact it was a yellow upgraded to red, at least it sort of exists in the realm of a decision that might be given (although the exact same offence wasn’t a red in another game that weekend).

This, however, is the worst of the lot. It’s a trip, it’s a cynical foul, it’s a yellow card. It’s not serious foul play. It’s not studs down the ankle or the shin. Anyone trying to tell you that is not worth listening to. Screenshots and videos don’t prove that. Look at it in real time. It’s a foul and a booking, never anything more than that. However, the so-called best referee in England made that decision, and that decision was backed up by VAR. Honestly, it’s beyond pathetic.

It’s not the first time with Oliver either. He’s the one who sent Trossard off for ‘kicking the ball away’ a split second after he’d blown his whistle, yet is now content to let players delay the restart in much more egregious fashion – even in yesterday’s game. He’s the one who failed to send Mateo Kovacic off when, already on a yellow (that should have been a red), he crunched into a tackle on Declan Rice’s ankle. PMGOL chief Howard Webb later justified that decision by saying Oliver ‘didn’t want to ruin the game’.

He’s obviously quite selective about how and when he applies those standards. Here’s my guess: if it’s an opposition player, keep those cards away. If it’s an Arsenal player, ruin away. This was, by some distance, the worst decision of this season and once again it’s another of the ‘You never see it happen to any other team’ genre, and with a ref who has previous.

Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I was so angry at a game of football. I’ve been around the block a bit at this point, I’ve seen some things, lots of things, but at half-time I genuinely thought about just turning off, because what’s the point? What’s the point in trying to analyse a team or a game when the officials do that? I think there’s now a body of evidence when it comes to this referee and Arsenal that makes me more than a little suspicious about his motives. At best, rampant unconscious bias; at worst something more sinister. A red card not long before we play a cup semi-final second leg against the team he supports? Hmmmm.

With everything else we’ve had to deal with this season, this felt like another blow that would result in more dropped points, as external factors take their toll on this season. And yet, Arsenal’s response was excellent. Already without Martin Odegaard who was taken ill on the day of the game, Mikel Arteta withdrew Ethan Nwaneri and put on Riccardo Calafiori to fill the gap at left-back.

We’ve struggled with 10 men before, but yesterday we dug really deep and started the second half in impressive fashion. We didn’t look like we were a man light, the only time it was apparent was when Wolves had a bit of the ball eventually and started spreading it wide, meaning our lads had to work really hard to cover the ground and close down the spaces.

Kai Havertz, who had two first half headers (one just wide, one saved), almost put us ahead with another one. When you see the replay, the ball just flicks off Jurrien Timber before he heads it. I’m sure it would have been third time lucky for him without that touch (I’m choosing to believe this morning, because these players deserve a lot of credit). At the other end, David Raya made a brilliant save from Matheus Cunha, before the Brazilian fired wide from the resulting corner. One breakaway moment a bit later forced Raya into another good save, but that’s basically all they had.

The playing field was levelled when Joao Gomes picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Timber which was way more of a red than Lewis-Skelly’s, but it was ten each, and we took advantage. You could see the Wolves heads go down at that moment, and what a boost it was for Arsenal. Saliba celebrated Timber’s ankle being crunched like we’d scored a goal, Gabriel got everyone going in response, and we had some wind in our sails.

The goal came when Martinelli put in a left footed cross which Wolves didn’t deal with properly, and Calafiori was there to apply a very nice finish on the half volley. It was his second goal of the season, both of them perfectly hit, and I don’t think it was any less than we deserved – not just because of the injustice of the red card, but the way we played despite that travesty of a decision. This group of players tapped into their deepest reserves in a month when we’ve had so much football to play, and that moment was enough to take all three points.

Afterwards, Arteta was asked about the red card, and said:

It is that clear that I leave it to you guys. I am absolutely fuming but I leave it with you. Because it is that obvious, I don’t think my words are going to help.

And on the game:

I’m extremely proud of all the players. You can talk about our courage, you can talk about the spirit, but as well about intelligence. The way they managed emotionally the game, it was unbelievable. And especially with what we have to face and how they felt about it. All of them, just face the situation, the challenge. We went to the second half, the only message was to go out there and help to win the game.

I think he’s right to be proud. As I said, there wasn’t a player on that pitch who didn’t put in a massive shift, and it’s physically very demanding to play a man light. And here’s the thing: they had to. There was so little on the bench to change things in areas we needed to. Arteta spoke before the game about his players having to cope with the lack of reinforcements via the transfer market, and they did it again yesterday.

We should be proud of the effort, and the fact they did enough to win and take all three points. But now help them. HELP THEM. Give them the additions they need, because there’s only so much you can ask of them. Havertz, for example, was absolutely shattered at the end, and while we can all debate and discuss his output, you cannot question his workrate. He runs himself ragged for this team, and in the last ten days he has played 90 minutes three times, and 120 minutes in the cup on top of that.

We had nobody on the bench yesterday to give us a bit more energy up there in the final stages. It’s not about giving one player a bit of a breather, it’s about what that player can do for the team and how it can impact results. I know it’s their job and they are handsomely paid for it, but you can only ask so much before there’s nothing left in the tank. I feel like we’re close to that point now, so it’s imperative we do what needs to be done in the market. The players have earned it, the owners cannot ignore it any longer. The risks go beyond just running out of steam.

As for the red card, we have to appeal. It was bad enough that Lewis-Skelly was sent off, but a three match ban on top of that is just not acceptable. Arteta cited precedent when Bruno Fernandes had a red card overturned earlier this season, and hoped common sense would prevail again in this case. I wouldn’t hold my breath on that, with Webb and PGMOL unlikely to do anything to undo their plans for referees to become main characters more and more often. We should appeal straight away, have it on their desk first thing Monday morning, and if it fails … well, that would copper-fasten those suspicions even further. Let’s see what happens.

For now though, we can enjoy those three points. They taste all the sweeter this morning, and let’s hope that this week brings what we need in the market ahead of a big game against Man City next weekend.

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For more on yesterday, we’ll Arsecast Extra for you in a little while too. We’ve put out the call for questions on BlueSky @gunnerblog.bsky.social and @arseblog.com with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re an Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.

Pod should be out around noon. For now, have a good one.

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