Arsenal use Man United example to win Myles Lewis-Skelly red card appeal

Arsenal's appeal against the red card given to Myles Lewis-Skelly in the victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers has been released and they used Manchester United and Liverpool to win their case.

Lewis-Skelly was given a straight red card just before half-time at Molineux when he caught Matt Doherty as the Wolves full-back looked to counter. The decision outraged the Arsenal players and staff as the challenge was made halfway inside the opponent's half and there was covering players.

However, the dismissal was for serious foul play and replays showed Lewis-Skelly had caught Doherty with his studs. It is fair to say that the call by referee Michael Oliver divided opinion while also highlighting the dark side of football fandom.

The PGMOL released a statement on Sunday night deploring the threats which had been sent to Oliver in the aftermath of the decision. On Thursday, the FA charged the Gunners for 'failing to ensure that its players did not behave in an improper manner.'

Before this decision by domestic football's governing body, Arsenal had launched an appeal against the suspension Lewis-Skelly received and won. In their case sent to the FA's regulatory commission, the Gunners sent four video clips.

One was of Bruno Fernandes' red card against Tottenham Hotspur in September which was overturned and another was of Alexis Mac Allister's sending off against Bournemouth in August 2023. The other two clips were of the incident itself and the challenge which saw Joao Gomes sent off for Wolves on Saturday after receiving a second yellow card.

In their summary, the FA explained: "The Commission members were unanimous in their opinion that the referee had made an obvious error in sending off Myles Lewis-Skelly for the challenge that he had made. The challenge was certainly ‘Foul Play’ but it obviously could not, to the mind of the commission, be categorised as having been 'Serious Foul Play'.

"Myles Lewis-Skelly had stepped across his opponent and tripped him up, possibly deliberately, but in doing so he had obviously not endangered the safety of his opponent or used excessive force or brutality, nor had he ‘lunged’ in at his opponent." Following this decision, Lewis-Skelly will be available for selection on Sunday when the Gunners host Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.