Chief refereeing officer of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) Howard Webb has been urged to give Michael Oliver a break after sending off Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Mikel Arteta’s side were reduced to 10-men during their 1-0 victory at Molineux on Saturday, when Lewis-Skelly fouled Matt Doherty near the edge of the over Wolverhampton Wanderers box as the home side launched a counter-attack.
While Lewis-Skelly was expecting a yellow card, the young defender was shown a straight red and this has sparked reactions from the football world.
Former Premier League referees’ chief Keith Hackett while speaking to talkSPORT said: “I’d be saying to Michael Oliver, I think you need a rest and I think you’re not going to see another game in the Premier League for a couple of weeks. That’s the first action.”
Hackett was scathing about Oliver’s decision to show a red card, which was not overturned by VAR Darren England. Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer called it one of the “worst decisions he has seen in a long time”.
Myles Lewis-Skelly of Arsenal reacts after being shown a red card by Referee Michael Oliver (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
He added: “Ultimately, the referee takes responsibility. I admit, and I’m very clear, that VAR did not do what VAR should do. This was a clear and obvious error. It wasn’t serious foul play.”
Hackett believes Oliver acted too hastily, saying: “It was instant. It was too instant. He needed to have a thought process that runs through and visualise that incident, give himself time, milliseconds, before he makes this major error.”
Arsenal are now set to appeal the decision, which could see Lewis-Skelly’s three-match ban overturned.
Oliver in the past has been at the centre of other contentious Arsenal refereeing incidents, as when he gave Leandro Trossard a second yellow card for time-wasting at Manchester City in September after deeming that he kicked the ball away post-whistle, despite Trossard claiming he couldn’t hear the whistle.
In a game between Arsenal and Manchester City in October 2023, Oliver was under scrutiny again for not expelling Mateo Kovacic for committing two bookable offences.
Additionally, in February 2022, Oliver sent off Gabriel Martinelli from Arsenal for receiving two yellow cards during a single sequence against Wolves.
