William Saliba was sent off for committing a last-man foul for Arsenal against Bournemouth. The Frenchman, who was put into a race against Cherries forward Evanilson, was judged to have stopped a clear goalscoring chance.
A horrible backwards pass from Leandro Trossard caught Saliba out of position with Evanilson trying to pounce on the ball. Saliba made contact with the striker as he went to ground. Referee Rob Jones blew his whistle and originally awarded the French defender a yellow card after some deliberation. After VAR recommended that Jones go check the monitor to review his on-field decision, the yellow card was rescinded and Saliba was sent off. It’s the first red card of his career.
It was Arsenal’s third red card in eight games, a frightening statistic for fans hoping to finally topple Manchester City in the Premier League. It’s also not the first mired in controversy. Declan Rice and Trossard were both sent off earlier in the season for delaying the restart against Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively. Both situations resulted in a second yellow card whereas Saliba’s was a straight red.
