The Premier League’s Major Match Incident Panel has ruled that Mikel Merino should have been sacked during Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium on December 30. Merino pulled Morgan Rodgers back in the 58th minute with the Gunners leading 2-0, but official Darren England objected to showing the Spanish midfielder a second yellow card.
In a unanimous verdict, the committee decided that Merino “clearly stopped a promising attack by pulling on Rodgers’ arm and should have been given a second caution.” VAR cannot intervene in the matter of a second yellow card, so Merino remained on the field.
Villa protested at the time that he had already been booked for challenging Amadou Onana just before the interval, which should have been Merino’s second record of the contest.
The verdict from the Major Match Incidents Committee in the first half of the campaign revealed that Mikel Arteta’s side benefited from just one VAR error.
Asked about the incident, former Premier League official Mark Halsey posted on X: “This was a deliberate holding offense by Merino on Rodgers and he should have been given a second card (yellow card emoji) for denying a promising attack.”
Asked if a player’s existing booking influences the referee’s thinking, Halsey said: “Not every challenge is (yellow card emoji).”
“Referees will decide based on the merits of the challenge, but IMO there are so many (yellow card emojis) shown unnecessarily that referees have no control over these players.”
“Merino’s holding offense nailed him to second base (yellow card emoji)”
Had Merino been given his marching orders, Villa might have been able to get back into the game, but Arteta, sensing the risk, withdrew the Spaniard after just over 10 minutes.
Gabriel Magalhães, Martin Zubimendi, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus scored, with Ollie Watkins giving the visitors the lead in stoppage time.
Arsenal lead the Premier League with a 14-point lead over reigning champions Liverpool, while Manchester City and Villa are second and third, six points behind the Gunners each.
The north Londoners return to Carabao Cup duty on Wednesday night, taking on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, before heading to Nottingham Forest for a Premier League match on Saturday.
