Gabriel Martinelli: Ex-FIFA official unhappy as ‘law not complied with’ for Arsenal red v Wolves
Michael Oliver has been branded “careless” after he sent off Gabriel Martinelli as Arsenal beat Wolves 1-0 on Thursday (10 February).
That’s the opinion of ex-Fifa and Premier League referee Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the controversial incident.
Martinelli, 20, was shown two yellow cards during the same passage of play in the second half of Arsenal’s clash with Wolves.
The Brazilian first impeded a Wolves throw-in, where Oliver played advantage, before bringing down Chiquinho a few seconds later.
Two yellow cards then a red were shown to Martinelli though Hackett claims Oliver should have only issued one caution.
“It was a poor piece of officiating,” Hackett told Football Insider correspondent Ben Wild.
“I think it’s easy to be wise after the event but in law, because Oliver has two offences, he’s right according to the law.
“That’s for certain. Arsenal obviously don’t have the chance to appeal that as the FA don’t allow appeals on yellow cards.
“This is an issue of practical refereeing. If you look at the restart from the throw-in, the law has not been complied with.
“The laws are quite clear that at a throw-in, the defending players have to be two metres away, clearly Martinelli was not.
“Oliver had the opportunity at that point to order a re-take of the throw-in and he could have cautioned the player at that point.
“It was careless refereeing because possession is not an advantage, so Wolves didn’t ever really have the advantage.
“Oliver put himself in jail. He was right in law but I think there was a failure to control the game and the second yellow could have easily been avoided by the referee.”
In other news, a pundit has claimed an Arsenal big name has just ‘six months’ to save his Emirates career after a picture emerges.