It has to be one of the strangest red cards ever seen in the Premier League.
Arsenal star, Gabriel Martinelli, certainly did himself no favours with his actions at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday night.
It seemed fairly obvious that the youngster was unhappy about not being awarded a foul before pushing Daniel Podence over at a throw in, before taking out Chiquinho as he bore down on goal.
Luckily for Mikel Arteta, it didn’t affect the outcome of the result, but had it done so, the Spaniard would’ve been well within in his rights to point the finger of blame at Martinelli.
There’s no doubting his skill set, but the exuberance of youth needs to be reigned in a little at times.
Former Premier League official, Mark Halsey, believes that the player was a little unlucky in the sense that his red was harsh.
“Gabriel Martinelli’s quick-fire red card at Wolves was harsh,” he told CaughtOffside.
“The Arsenal forward was initially cautioned for pushing Daniel Podence as he was taking a throw-in.
“Then five seconds later Martinelli fouled Wolves winger Chiquinho thus denying him a promising attack.
“Referee, Michael Oliver, was correct in law to issue two cautions at the same time for two offences, but I believe he should have managed the incidents better than he did for a referee of his caliber.
“If Oliver wanted to caution Martinelli for the first offence he should have stopped the game as the offence occurred.”
What’s a real shame is that, after what was an entertaining game, all of the talk will be about that one incident, and perhaps Oliver’s performance as a result.
When undoubtedly the best referee that the Premier League has to offer is getting it wrong, then there really is a reason to worry.
PGMOL are under enough pressure as it is, and they’ll not welcome the extra scrutiny involved after this latest incident.