Referee Michael Oliver was right to send off Leandro Trossard in Arsenal’s dramatic 2-2 draw at Manchester City, the Key Match Incidents panel has said.
The midfielder was dismissed in first-half injury time after kicking the ball away following a foul on Bernardo Silva on Sunday.
It was the second time the Gunners have had a player dismissed for delaying the restart after Declan Rice was sent off in the 1-1 draw against Brighton this month.
The panel, which reviews all key refereeing decisions in the Premier League each week, wrote: “Trossard clearly delays the restart by kicking the ball away.”
It was not unanimous though, and one panellist thought the “split-second nature of the kick away was enough of a mitigating factor”.
Arsenal were 2-1 ahead at Etihad Stadium at the time, but John Stones rescued a point for City in the 98th minute of second-half stoppage time to move them back to the top of the Premier League.
Martinez decision backed despite ‘ridiculous’ tackle
The KMI panel is independent and made up of three former players or coaches, one Premier League representative and one from referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).
According to the panel, referee David Coote was also correct not to send off Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez.
The defender was booked for his tackle on Daichi Kamada in Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace.
The centre-back left the ground with both feet, but despite VAR Chris Kavanagh checking the challenge, Coote was not sent to review his decision on the pitchside monitor.
Both the on-pitch and VAR decisions were backed 5-0 in the panel’s report of last weekend’s games, seen by BBC Sport.
“The action viewed in isolation is a ridiculous challenge. Martinez is so fortunate that he doesn’t contact Kamada,” the panel wrote.
But the panel agreed the on-field decision was correct “on the basis that the action by Martinez had been completed and no contact was made”, yet it felt “the challenge has no place on the pitch”.
Gibbs-White sending off splits panel
The decision to send off Morgan Gibbs-White in Nottingham Forest’s 2-2 draw at Brighton was split 3-2, with the majority believing official Robert Jones was wrong to dismiss the midfielder.
Gibbs-White, who has been charged by the Football Association for his reaction, was shown a second yellow card after an 83rd-minute challenge on Joao Pedro, although three of the panel felt it fell below the threshold for a second caution.
Two panellists thought “the intensity of the challenge is too high and it’s a reckless tackle showing disregard to the consequences for the opponent”.
The panel was also split on the call not to award West Ham a penalty in their 3-0 defeat by Chelsea.
Wesley Fofana’s tackle on Crysencio Summerville in the 28th minute, with the Hammers 2-0 down, went unpunished by referee Samuel Barrott.
The majority of the panel, 3-2, felt a spot-kick should have been awarded.
“Summerville’s wrist is held as he gets away from Fofana, and this impacts his progress towards the ball. The holding starts outside the penalty area and continues into it,” the panel wrote.
It was also split on VAR intervention, 4-1, with the majority supporting the referee’s call of no penalty because it was not a clear and obvious error.
A statement from the Premier League Match Centre X account said during the game the incident between Fofana and Summerville did constitute “sustained holding”.