Arsenal were forced to play more than 45 minutes with 10 men against Bournemouth after William Saliba’s yellow card was upgraded to red following a VAR check
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insisted his team can’t do anything about William Saliba’s red card against Bournemouth, accepting a decision has been made.
Saliba was dismissed just half an hour into the match after bringing down Bournemouth striker Evanilson. The centre-back was initially shown a yellow card, but referee Rob Jones upgraded it to red after rewatching the incident on the VAR monitor.
Bournemouth took advantage of the extra man to win 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium, though it took them until the 70th minute to do so. Ryan Christie broke the deadlock after a smart corner routine, and Justin Kluivert doubled his team’s lead from the penalty spot after another foul on Evanilson.
Not only did the red card cost Arsenal on the day, but it could have deeper repercussions with Saliba suspended for next weekend’s game against Liverpool. Speaking after the match, Arteta was a man of few words when it came to the incident itself.
“It’s very difficult to win in the Premier League with 10 men for 60-70 minutes, it’s just an accident waiting to happen,” Arteta told Sky Sports. “We have had to go through it in three games and that cost us the game.
“We had the big chance and the moment in the game to score and have a different result and then we conceded a goal. We try to stick to the rules. The three [red cards] have been different ones and three very different outcomes.”
On the subject of the red card, he said: “The decision has been made. It was made on the pitch, then it was changed on the pitch, now they’re not going to change it so decision made.” When asked if he agreed with the decision, he simply repeated the words “decision made”
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The Premier League Match Centre account issued an explainer of the incident on social media. “The referee gave Saliba a yellow card for a challenge on Evanilson. The VAR deemed that Saliba denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and recommended an on-field review. The referee then upgraded the yellow to a red card,” their post read.
Despite the red card, Arsenal showed defensive strength and threatened to stun their opponents only for Kepa Arrizabalaga to save well from Gabriel Martinelli. Moments later, Bournemouth had a lead which they wouldn’t relinquish.
“Sometimes when a team go a man down they can start playing well, like [Arsenal] did at [Manchester] City,” Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook told Sky Sports after the game. “But we created the chances needed to win the game. We know we want to be clinical as each goal in this league is massive.
“Arsenal are so compact. You think of them as an attacking team but they can adapt. We matched them today and got the win.”
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