Arsenal

Arsenal: Mike Dean may have made big mistake not punishing Son

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Image for Arsenal: Mike Dean may have made big mistake not punishing Son

Arsenal may feel slightly unfortunate to not have seen the opposition reduced to 10 men after this footage which was posted to Twitter (originated from Sky Sports). 

Spurs cruised to three huge points in the North London Derby with goals from Harry Kane and Son Heung-min closing the gap on the top four to just one point.

Should this have been a red card for Son?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Arsenal were reduced to 10 men inside the first half after Rob Holding was shown a second yellow card for an elbow to the face of Spurs’ South Korean winger.

However, there have been some calls for the 29-year-old to have been shown a red card for an attempted elbow on the Arsenal defender earlier in the game.

The two had yet another coming together shortly after the 10-minute mark and in an attempt to wriggle out of Holding’s grasp, Son’s elbow brushed the Arsenal defender who then threw the South Korean.

TIF Thoughts on the footage…

The FA rule for violent conduct states:

“Violent conduct is when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball, or against a team-mate, team official, match official, spectator or any other person, regardless of whether contact is made.

In addition, a player who, when not challenging for the ball, deliberately strikes an opponent or any other person on the head or face with the hand or arm, is guilty of violent conduct unless the force used was negligible.”

We can certainly see why there may be some frustrations from an Arsenal point of view as there is certainly movement in Son’s arm towards the defender.

However, Holding does pull the defender down which causes Son to react, but that still doesn’t justify any force with the elbow. Though, Holding ended up putting in a shocking challenge using his elbow and forearm himself which ultimately ended up getting him sent off with a second yellow.

It was only a couple of weeks ago when Dejan Kulusevski did something similar against Brighton & Hove Albion, but there was certainly a lot less menace in what Son did last night. And, Fabinho got away with what arguably should’ve been a red card recently using his elbow and forearm at Anfield.

Of course, it seems like the real issue here is consistency with the officiating in the Premier League, which causes the anger amongst fan bases with some decisions being punished and others going unseen.

In other news: ‘Conte’s biggest managerial achievement’ – Sky Sports man stunned by transformed Spurs ace

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