Howard Webb noted that Kavanagh should have given Brighton’s Pedro a yellow card before issuing Rice’s red card
By Kehinde Okeowo
Premier League’s chief refereeing officer, Howard Webb has admitted that the referee in charge of Arsenal’s league clash against Brighton last month, Chris Kavanagh was inconsistent.
The Gunners were left furious after Declan Rice was given a second yellow card for kicking the ball away in their 1-1 draw against Brighton at the Emirates Stadium on August 31.
During a recent assessment of the encounter, Howard Webb noted that Kavanagh made an error before issuing a red card to the Arsenal midfielder.
According to him, shortly before Rice was sent off, Brighton forward, Joao Pedro delayed Arsenal’s ability to restart play by kicking the ball away.
He went on to say Kavanagh should have also given Pedro a yellow card before Rice’s red card.
ALSO READ: Aguero says signing Mbappe doesn’t guarantee Real Madrid UCL trophy
Osimhen set to miss Tuesday’s Super Lig action against Gaziantep
Asked about the incident, Webb said as quoted by Metro UK: “He [Pedro] wasn’t [booked], he should have been.
“It’s a different type of scenario, it sits in the same kind of booking around delaying the restart. Of course, he should have been cautioned here.
“The officials on the field gave him too much benefit of the doubt, feeling that the actions were not really impactful because they felt that the Arsenal players were not ready to take that throw-in, they were a little bit distance away from the ball, and Veltman [with Rice] was right there.”
He added, “I think when we look at this it is quite clear that the actions of Pedro do have an impact, they do delay Arsenal’s ability to restart and, yes, that should have been a yellow card.”
