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Gary Neville believes Mateo Kovacic was ‘very lucky’ to avoid a red card in the first half of Arsenal’s win over Manchester City.
Former Chelsea midfielder Kovacic caught Martin Odegaard high on the ankle with a tackle from behind but was only shown a yellow by referee Michael Oliver, a decision confirmed following a VAR check.
Just minutes later, the Croatian caught Declan Rice but Oliver ignored Arsenal’s pleas for the City star to be dismissed.
‘He’s in trouble. Oh, no. I think he’s lucky. I think he’s very lucky,’ Neville said.
Mateo Kovacic was fortunate not to see red for a lunge on Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard
Following a VAR review, the midfielder was shown a yellow card by referee Michael Oliver
The Man City midfielder avoided a second yellow for a challenge on Declan Rice minutes later
‘I think he gets Declan Rice’s right foot. He does. What is he doing? I think he should be off. It’s madness from Kovacic.
‘Pep Guardiola must be thinking about making a substitution. The first one was close. That one was just crazy.
The former Manchester United defender said it was ‘a mistake from the referee. ‘I think Kovacic has got to go for that. I’m amazed he’s not,’ he added.
Former Arsenal star Theo Walcott insisted Kovacic should have been given a red card for the foul on Odegaard.
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‘As soon as it went to VAR, I thought, and I’ve seen it slowed down, red card straight away,’ he said.
‘It’s not a nice tackle. You can see the way he gets really low on the ankle. For me, it’s a red card. I don’t think there’s any question. That’s not me putting my Arsenal head on, I genuinely think that’s endangering the player.’
But Micah Richards argued yellow was the correct decision. ‘Theo’s got a point. It’s slowed down here, it’s worse, of course. I think yellow card is the right decision on this particular one, just because of the force he was going at,’ he said.
‘It always looks worse slow. At full speed, it did look bad but I think a yellow was the right decision. He went to press and he got the press wrong.’
Gary Neville said he was ‘very lucky’ to have got away without sending off in the Arsenal clash
Odegaard was left in pain from Kovacic’s tackle, which pundits believed should have led to a red card
Richards admitted the tackle on Rice merited a second yellow. ‘I think that is a yellow card, it’s the bottom of his ankle. He gets the press wrong. I think that’s a second yellow card.
Neville suggested that Kovacic’s challenge was more severe than the one that led to Curtis Jones receiving a red card the previous week.
In that incident, the Liverpool midfielder accidentally made contact with Yves Bissouma when his foot rolled over the top of the ball and caught the Spurs midfielder.
However, in contrast to Kovacic’s situation, VAR official Darren England instructed referee Simon Hooper to review the monitor, where they observed a still image showing Jones’s studs making contact with Bissouma.
Jones was dismissed and Liverpool appealed but the FA upheld the decision, meaning the Reds midfielder will serve a three-game ban.
