Arsenal were forced to play the last 20 minutes of their clash with Swansea City with 10 men after Granit Xhaka was sent off for a cynical lunge.
The Swiss international isn’t a stranger to red cards, with his dismissal on Saturday his eighth in the last two-and-a-half years dating back to his spell with Borussia Monchengladbach and with the national team.
With Modou Barrow racing clear of him to spark a threatening Swansea counter-attack, Xhaka opted to commit a cynical foul that many would have expected to see referee Jon Moss brandish a yellow card for.
#RedCard for #Xhaka [8 booking in 2,5 year] https://t.co/IdQ5Eidi2f
— Kangope (@kangope) October 15, 2016
However, he judged it to be serious foul play and ended Xhaka’s afternoon early with opinion split on Twitter as to whether or not the foul warranted a straight red.
Given that Arsenal still had cover, it was arguably an unnecessary foul for Xhaka to commit, but ultimately he paid the full price for his mistake.
It was a game to forget for the Swiss ace in general as it was his mistake that led to Gylfi Sigurdsson grabbing a goal in the first half to give the visitors a way back into the encounter.
Despite Mesut Ozil’s goal to open up a 3-1 lead after the break, Arsenal were pegged back again and coupled with Xhaka’s dismissal, they certainly face a nervy end to the game as they look to hold on for three valuable points.