Myles Lewis-Skelly was lucky not to be shown a second yellow card (Image: GETTY)
defender Myles Lewis-Skelly escaped a “very clear” second yellow card and should have been sent off during in the Champions League, according to a former Premier League referee. The Gunners recorded the biggest ever away win in the knockout stages of this tournament in Eindhoven with six different players on the scoresheet. But Lewis-Skelly suffered some slight personal disappointment as he was brought off on 35 minutes.
Lewis-Skelly was booked for a foul on Luuk de Jong 10 minutes earlier and the home crowd inside the Phillips Stadium was baying for a second after the Englishman brought down Richard Ledezma. Referee Jesus Gil Manzano showed restraint and did not issue another yellow with the defender then withdrawn after Mikel Merino made it 3-0 en route to a humiliating scoreline.
But former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official Keith Hackett told post-match: “We witnessed here, a little bit of inconsistent officiating. I thought the first yellow to Lewis-Skelly was a little weak, but then, having got that yellow, he commits a very clear yellow card offence by bringing his opponent down, stopping a very promising attack, for which he should have then walked.
“He didn’t, but his manager was alert, had seen what had happened, and rightly subbed him. That maintained the 11 players on the field of play for the remainder of the game. Well done to Arteta for bringing Lewis-Skelly off, if the referee was consistent, he would have been shown the red.”
Myles Lewis-Skelly assisted Ethan Nwaneri’s goal in their 7-1 win (Image: GETTY)
Lewis-Skelly has already had two red cards in 12 Premier League matches for . But 18-year-old later saw one of those dismissals, against Wolves, overturned after an appeal. More recently he was sent off against West Ham and missed the goalless draw at Nottingham Forest last week.
He will also be unavailable for matches against , and Fulham, though the player – naturally a midfielder who has been moved into a left-back role – is likely to play PSV again next week at the Emirates.
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