Former referee Dermot Gallagher has admitted that he believes Myles Lewis-Skelly should have seen yellow for his foul against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
With Arsenal presumably hoping to win an appeal against Myles Lewis-Skelly’s red-card suspension, the club will feel optimistic as neutral pundits continue to speak out in support of the defender.
The latest to do so is former referee Dermot Gallagher, who admits that he wouldn’t have shown a red card to the player for the foul.
“I think it’s breaking up a promising attack, that’s my opinion,” Gallagher told Sky Sports. “There’s others, other referees, think differently.”
“[Lewis-Skelly] realises that Doherty is going to be away, his priority is ‘I’ve got to stop him quickly’,” Gallagher continued. “He flicks out. It’s very, very cynical, but a cynical foul for me is not a red card.
“I don’t think it’s the worst decision in the world, like people say. [Michael Oliver] feels that he goes down his Achilles…I don’t think he does.
“For me, personally, I think it’s a yellow card for stopping a promising attack. Is it with brutality, is it with malice? Is it gaining intensity and speed? I think not.”
The PGMOL’s only statement on the incident so far has been to support Michael Oliver and decry “threats and abuse” directed at the referee. It’s not clear where these threats are coming from, given Oliver’s lack of a social media presence, but police investigations are reportedly underway.
But PGMOL chief Howard Webb has previously justified a similar “glancing blow” challenge by Moises Caicedo as a yellow-card offence, not a red card.
If Lewis-Skelly had landed with his full force on Doherty’s leg, it would be a different story. That’s not the case, and his foot only briefly made a glancing contact with the player’s leg before coming down onto the foot.
In general, you expect to see yellow cards for those kinds of incidents, and it would be a shock if Arsenal don’t manage to get the red-card suspension overturned before Sunday’s game against Manchester City.