Keith Hackett lifts the lid on Joao Gomes red card in new Wolves-Arsenal storm
Michael Oliver was “being clever” when giving Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes a second yellow card rather than a straight red during his side’s defeat to Arsenal, Keith Hackett has said.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that the 23-year-old could easily have been sent off for his challenge on Jurrien Timber.
Gomes’ dismissal ensured the match ended as a game of ten against ten, following Myles Lewis-Skelly’s controversial straight red card late in the first half of the game.
Now Hackett believes that the Wolves man could have faced similar punishment, rather than receiving a second booking when he was given his marching orders.
Wolves man could have had a straight red vs Arsenal – Hackett
Gomes was already on a yellow card in the game, having been booked for kicking the ball away after Arsenal had been awarded a free-kick in the first-half.
The Wolves man was then shown a second yellow to receive his marching orders with 20 minutes remaining for a challenge on Timber in which his studs landed on the ankle of the Gunners defender.
Hackett has now said that the Brazil international could have been shown a straight red, but by giving him two yellows instead, the player and his team will now be unable to appeal the decision.
When asked by Football Insider if Gomes could have been given a straight red card for his challenge on Timber, the former referee said:
“There’s no question for me this was clearly a potential straight red. But what they do, they’re clever referees. If you give a straight red, there’s the opportunity to appeal.
“So he knows he’s on a second yellow, that’s a really big second yellow that could easily on its own be a red, but the referee’s offering yellow so there’s no appeal.
“So that’s the basis of their thinking sometimes, that’s come out in discussions in the past: ‘I’ll give him a second yellow and that way he’s going off, and he can’t appeal.”
Following that red card for the Wolves man, Arsenal would go on to win the game thanks to Ricardo Calafiori’s 85th-minute goal.
Given Lewis-Skelly’s dismissal was a straight red card, the Gunners will have the chance to appeal, something many would expect them to do.
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