Michael Oliver 'sacked immediately' as footage re-analysed - Arsenal fans rage

A recently retired five-a-side midfield maestro and Chelsea fan, Alex specialised in Magazine and feature journalism while studying for his NCTJ with the Press Association. He has since gone on to work with the likes of GOAL, FotMob, and Copa90 before joining the Football Insider team. Also hates short corners.

Published on:

25 Jan 2025, 12:51 pm

Arsenal fans were left furious with referee Michael Oliver for sending wonderkid Myles Lewis-Skelly off in their 1-0 Premier League win over Wolves on Saturday (January 25).

Oliver, 39, gave the 18-year-old his marching orders for 'serious foul play' just before half-time for a challenge on Wolves defender Matt Doherty.

Wolves looked to break after clearing an Arsenal corner, but Lewis-Skelly caught the veteran defender right in front of Oliver before he was able to form a counter-attack.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former PGMOL chief, ex-FIFA, and Premier League referee Keith Hackett believes Oliver was "wrong" to send the youngster off.

The referee later gave Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes a second yellow card for what was arguably a more dangerous tackle on Jurrien Timber.

Riccardo Calafiori was on hand to secure all three points at the Molineux after Nelson Semedo's inability to deal with Gabriel Martinelli's cross allowed the Italian defender to score from a tight angle.

Arsenal fans left furious with Michael Oliver after controversial Myles Lewis-Skelly decision

The young left-back is having a real breakout season under Mikel Arteta this season, starting 13 of his 20 games across all competitions, scoring zero goals, and providing one assist in 1063 minutes of action.

Arsenal fans, furious with the decision to send their young star off, took to X, formally known as Twitter, to vent their frustrations.

Michael Oliver is a cheating, corrupt, arrogant little man. Disgrace to the sport. In absolute disbelief. Sack him now. #WOLARS @FA_PGMOL
— Jake Morg (@JakeMorgan_11) January 25, 2025

Micheal Oliver needs to be investigated.
Never in my life have I seen a more cynical bias and deliberate act to two tier officiate a game of football then I have under his watch.

Get this man out of the PGMOL now.. today we may have won but the bigger picture is he’s a farce
— Bowlesy (@AFCBowlesy) January 25, 2025

❌ Michael Oliver cannot be allowed to officiate Arsenal games anymore.

🤷‍♂️ Is it corruption? Is it bias?

🟥 It doesn’t really matter. We all know he will find a ridiculous way to send off one of our players. Poor Lewis-Skelly 😮‍💨

😡 It can’t continue. #WOLARS pic.twitter.com/REnlu0LmEE
— Callum Stirling (@1CallumStirling) January 25, 2025

Incredibly proud of the boys, but don’t let the result deflect from the utter incompetence of Michael Oliver this afternoon. On another day, it costs us points. It’s pathetic, yet again, and there should be consequences.
— Patrick Timmons (@PatrickTimmons1) January 25, 2025

I'm not someone who believes in conspiracies or corruption but the more I see from these frauds called officials in the Premier League the more I wonder if I should.

Michael Oliver is NOT up to standard & should not be working anywhere near the top tier. #AFC 🔴⚪ pic.twitter.com/C5bPA21MdC
— Kris 🔴⚪ 🇨🇵 ⭐⭐ (@KC_Runz) January 25, 2025

There is unironically no way to justify Michael Oliver having a career in refereeing after today, either this is a concerted effort to stop us or it is a level of incompetence high enough to revoke your right to referee professionally
— sheirdz (@shirdzz) January 25, 2025

#WOLARS I hope this tweet blows up… Michael Oliver should be investigated if the PGMOL wants to retain any sense of credibility, your brand isn’t much and this guy destroys you. Horrible decision and he makes mistakes every week!
— EmotionalFootball (@pitchfeelings) January 25, 2025

We need more spotlight on this. Michael Olivier has to lose his job for incompetence 👍🏽 https://t.co/j7LCpZM4ok
— Willz 🇵🇪 (@WillzRTP) January 25, 2025

Michael Oliver yet again has made a game about himself, and made a maverick first-of-its-kind decision, again.

I refuse to watch any more games with him as a ref. It's a question of when, not if he'll make a rogue call.
— The Arsenal Tom (@TheArsenalTom) January 25, 2025

In other news, Kai Havertz slammed for ‘absolute sitter’ Arsenal gaffe vs Wolves.

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