Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta described himself as “absolutely fuming” after teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly was controversially sent off during their victory over Wolves.
The 18-year-old was dismissed in the 43rd minute at Molineux after referee Michael Oliver deemed a foul on Matt Doherty to be violent conduct, despite the incident occurring 30 yards from goal.
VAR reviewed the decision and upheld it, leaving Arsenal to battle on with ten men for the remainder of the first half and much of the second.
Lewis-Skelly became the third youngest player in Premier League history to receive a straight red card, a record that came under deeply contentious circumstances.
Former England captain Alan Shearer was among those to condemn the decision, stating it was “one of the worst decisions that I’ve seen in a long time.”
Arteta stopped short of making detailed comment on the incident itself, suggesting the footage spoke for itself and that action needed to follow from the relevant authorities.
The Arsenal boss said: “I am absolutely fuming but I leave it with you. I think it is that obvious that we don’t need any comment today and hopefully the right thing will happen.”
On the prospect of an appeal, Arteta referenced a previous successful case involving Bruno as a precedent Arsenal could point to if required to pursue that route.
He added: “Hopefully we don’t need to and if we have to, there is a really good precedent, what happened with Bruno this season as well.”
The match turned significantly in the 70th minute when Wolves midfielder João Gomes was shown a red card, levelling the numbers on the pitch for both sides.
Arsenal capitalised almost immediately, with substitute Riccardo Calafiori scoring the only goal of the game just four minutes after the dismissal.
The victory also saw Arsenal record their first away clean sheet in ten Premier League games, ending a run that had stretched all the way back to September.
The win was made more impressive by the absence of captain Martin Ødegaard, with Arsenal’s injury issues continuing to test the depth of Arteta’s squad throughout this period.
Arteta praised his players generously after the final whistle, saying: “It’s incredible what the boys did again. The context that we were thrown into, it shows the character and the personality of the game.”
He continued: “The courage and intelligence to play the way we want to was exceptional,” underlining just how proud he was of his side’s resilience under difficult circumstances.
The result keeps Arsenal firmly in the Premier League title race, though they remain six points behind league leaders Liverpool, who also hold a game in hand.
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