Leandro Trossard: Why Arsenal star was sent off vs Manchester City

2 months ago 84

Leandro Trossard became the second Arsenal player to be sent off this season after a needless mistake against Manchester City
The Belgian winger had been booked in the 34th minute before getting his second yellow card right before the break
The decision came at a time when Jeremy Doku had avoided a booking from Michael Oliver for kicking the ball away

Leandro Trossard receiving his marching orders on the cusp of halftime during Arsenal's fiery clash against Manchester City on Sunday evening.

Arsenal made the daunting trip to the Etihad Stadium, looking to push the defending champions to their limits in the early stages of the campaign.

Leandro Trossard, Manchester City vs Arsenal

Erling Haaland scored his 10th goal of the campaign after some fine work from Savinho. The goal was, however, cancelled by a beautiful debut goal from Riccardo Calafiori amid some concerns from Manchester City.

Gabriel Magalhaes then scored another header in a second Premier League game in a row to give the Gunners a surprise lead.

Why Trossard was sent off

The game took another sharp turn after Trossard was sent for his second bookable offence. The Belgian was penalised after fouling Bernardo Silva. He booted the ball away, leaving referee Michael Oliver with no option but to give him another yellow card.

"The referee issued a second yellow card to Leandro Trossard for delaying the restart." said the Premier League in a statement.

Arsenal were baffled at the decision, given that Jeremy Doku had avoided a yellow card for a similar offence earlier in the game.

Premier League rules on delaying restart

Match officials have recently cranked up on players delaying the restart of play.

"A player will be cautioned if they are guilty of delaying the restart of play or failing to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a dropped ball, corner kick, free kick or throw-in," state the Premier League rules.

Declan Rice was sent off against Brighton and Hove Albion after he kicked the ball away. The issue at the time was the consistency in making the decisions, as Joao Pedro had gotten away unscathed despite a similar offence.