Arsenal news: Ex-Fifa official swipes at ‘wrong’ Granit Xhaka controversy after analysing entire match
Keith Hackett has slammed Andrew Madley for showing Granit Xhaka a yellow card as Arsenal beat Aston Villa 1-0 on Saturday (19 March).
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa and Premier League referee delivered his verdict after Madley was spotted telling Xhaka he had committed three offences when he was shown a yellow card for pushing Emiliano Buendia.
In fact, that was the first time that the 29-year-old had committed an offence during the game.
Xhaka can be seen quite rightly asking Madley where the three offences had come from.
The midfielder has a reputation for tough-tackling and has now been shown six yellow cards in his last 13 Premier League games.
He has also been shown two red cards this term – against Man City at the beginning of the Premier League season and in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool in January.
Asked for his verdict on Xhaka’s yellow card against Villa, Hackett said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley: “Madley was wrong with Granit Xhaka.
“He suddenly goes ‘1, 2, 3’ but when I’ve looked at the match, that’s the first foul challenge that Xhaka’s committed. There wasn’t a 1, 2, 3.
“It just shows how you have got to be so careful when communicating to a player when issuing a yellow card.”
Xhaka has turned around his reputation amongst Arsenal fans in recent weeks forming a formidable partnership with Thomas Partey.
The Gunners have won 10 of the last 12 Premier League games the pair have started together.
In other news, Kieran Maguire has revealed Arsenal have been caught up in a ‘very concerning’ sponsor controversy.