Howard Webb says Mateo Kovacic should have been sent off in Arsenal’s 1-0 win against Man City

Former top-flight referee, and PGMOL boss, Howard Webb has called into question the officiating during Arsenal‘s recent 1-0 victory over Manchester City.

Webb stated that City midfielder Mateo Kovacic was “extremely fortunate” not to receive a red card after a series of robust challenges, sparking a wider debate about VAR and refereeing in football.

Howard Webb has said that Manchester City’s Mateo Kovacic was “extremely fortunate” to not have been sent off in his team’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.

The match, which took place at the Emirates Stadium, saw Arsenal break a 12-game losing streak against City thanks to a late goal from Gabriel Martinelli.

The key moment in question occurred in the first half, when Kovacic was involved in two hard challenges just six minutes apart. The Croatian midfielder first received a yellow card for a tackle on Martin Odegaard.

VAR was consulted to determine if the tackle warranted a red card but ultimately upheld the initial yellow card decision.

Shortly after, Kovacic attempted a tackle on Declan Rice, clattering into the former West Ham skipper’s foot.

The crowd at the Emirates erupted in calls for a second yellow card and a subsequent sending off for Kovacic.

However, referee Michael Oliver chose not to issue a second booking, a decision that could not be overturned by VAR, as video assistants are unable to intervene in cases involving yellow cards.

Webb spoke on the programme Match Officials Mic’d Up and was unequivocal about the controversial decision.

He stated, “This is clearly a poor tackle and I am pretty confident if a red card had been given by Michael Oliver on the day it would have been very straightforward, ‘Check complete’.”

He added that the VAR concluded the decision for a yellow card was not “clearly and obviously incorrect”, and thus no intervention was necessary.

When asked if Kovacic was fortunate to stay on the pitch, Webb responded, “I do. I mean obviously the VAR can’t get involved, second yellows are something that the VAR is not able to get involved in but I think he was an extremely fortunate player to stay on the field of play.”

He also said that Michael Oliver, whom he described as “one of our best referees, one of the best referees in the world,” would likely review the incident while claiming that the ref, who sent Gabriel Martinelli off for two quick-fire yellows in the same passage of play, probably didn’t want to have a negative impact on the game.

After the game, it was reported on Match of the Day 2 that Oliver had believed Declan Rice’s foot had went into Kovacic as much as the other way around.

Both of those things can’t be true and seems to indicate that, even as PGMOL try to claim transparency, all they are doing is muddying dirty waters even more.