Mike Dean discusses whether Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly truly merited a red card against West Ham.

Mike Dean discusses whether Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly truly merited a red card against West Ham. As Arsenal was trailing 1-0 against West Ham United, Mikel Arteta’s situation deteriorated when substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly was issued a red card.

Lewis-Skelly, who was dismissed in a 1-0 victory over Wolves, also tackled Mohammed Kudus to prevent him from gaining an unobstructed path to the goal after initially losing possession of the ball.

David Raya, the Arsenal custodian, was situated significantly beyond his penalty area. Had Kudus not been impeded, he would have been permitted to shoot at an unoccupied goal. The Ghanaian international’s distance from the goal may have been the sole contentious factor in the judgement, which may have been the reason why Myles Lewis-Skelly was initially issued a yellow card.

Lewis-Skelly’s cameo was trimmed short, and the decision was reversed within minutes. The versatile left-back will not be available for selection as Arsenal are scheduled to face Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. Once more, Mikel Arteta may deploy Riccardo Calafiori against Forest.

However, Calafiori’s inadequate defence resulted in Bowen’s goal, as Aaron Wan-Bissaka was granted an abundance of time and space to identify the Englishman with an inch-perfect cross. Arteta may also consider starting Oleksandr Zinchenko, who, like Lewis-Skelly, was substituted against West Ham.