PGMOL expert blasts ‘excuses’ as Wolves star should have been sent off vs Arsenal
Rob Edwards’ side were extremely fortunate not to have a player sent off during their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday.
That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that Hwang Hee-Chan should have seen red after a challenge on Myles Lewis-Skelly on 13 December.
Wolves are the favourites to be relegated from the Premier League this season, and the Old Gold were delivered another crushing blow when Yerson Mosquera conceded an own goal in the fourth minute of added time.
Edwards’ side managed to shut out Viktor Gyokeres, but with two own goals, the travelling side were ultimately left disappointed in North London, and it could have been even worse.
Hwang Hee-Chan avoids sending-off vs Arsenal
In the 60th minute, Hwang went into a challenge on Lewis-Skelly studs-up, with VAR checking the incident for a red card, but referee Rob Jones was not sent to the pitch-side monitor.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former referee said: “When you look at this challenge, there is no doubt that this player has fulfilled the excessive force requirement [for a red card].
“He enters the challenge at pace with a straight leg, studs showing, and whilst low, is still endangering the safety of an opponent. The player was off the ground and, therefore, could not stop or change direction.
“I have no doubt that the excuse will be that ‘we stuck with yellow because the challenge was low down’, but for me, there’s an element of malice in the challenge. It should have been red.”
Wolves edge closer to Premier League relegation
Burnley, West Ham, Nottingham Forest, and Leeds United are all fighting for survival, alongside the Old Gold, and any chance of securing safety appears to have gone up in smoke.
There was some hope when Tolo Arokodare netted his first Premier League goal in the 90th minute, but that was completely crushed four minutes later when Mosquera headed into his own net.
Edwards will take some positives from the game, going toe-to-toe with the league leaders for the entire game, but they remain bottom of the table with just two points from 16 games.
They are quickly running out of time to get points on the board.