ARSENAL fans were left irate at referee Michael Oliver’s decision not to send off Mateo Kovacic.
The Manchester City midfielder received a booking in the 29th minute for a reckless tackle on Gunners skipper Martin Odegaard, whose right Achilles felt the full force of his dangerous challenge.
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Mateo Kovacic crunched Martin Odegaard with a nasty challenge in the 29th minute
Kovacic raked down the back of Odegaard’s Achilles with his challenge
VAR agreed with Michael Oliver’s decision to give the midfielder a booking
Kovacic made another dangerous challenge less than five minutes later
Fans yelled for the Croatian international to get a red card, but the video assistant referee refused to comply with their demands.
Five minutes later, the former Chelsea player knocked out Declan Rice with another ill-timed challenge, leaving them fuming.
Oliver didn’t deem the tackle worthy of a second booking, prompting a slew of angry Gooners to take to X (formerly Twitter) to vent their fury.
One wrote: “Kovacic is still on the ground somehow.”
Another said: “Nah, they want us to lose so much. What is this cheating?”
And another said: “Leave the pitch, the game is rigged
One remarked: “Someone please tell me how that Kovacic was a yellow and not a straight red like Curtis Jones’ last week????
“This ref’s are corrupt.”
Referee Michael Oliver opted NOT to give Mateo Kovacic a second booking
The Emirates faithful’s fury was echoed by Arsenal super-fan and Sun columnist Piers Morgan.
He asked: “How the hell is Kovacic still on the pitch?
“Two horrendous fouls in 5 minutes. Abysmal refereeing.”
Kovacic’s back-to-back fouls were the hot topic in the Sky Sports studio, where former City defender Micah Richards admitted the Croat should have seen red.
He said: “I believe Kovačić should have seen red. The Rice challenge is definitely a second yellow.”
Former Gunners hitman Theo Walcott said: “As soon as it went to VAR, I thought red card.
“It’s a nasty challenge. For me, it’s a red. It’s genuinely endangering the player.”
Arsenal ended up winning the game thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s late goal, their first win over City in the Premier League for eight years.