David Luiz has found an ally in his former Chelsea teammate John Terry after being sent-off for the third time in his Arsenal career. The defender was given his marching orders on the stroke of half-time for tripping Willian Jose as the Gunners let a 1-0 lead slip against Wolves on Tuesday evening in the Premier League. That decision proved costly as not only was Luiz sent-off, but he conceded a penalty from which Ruben Neves converted before Joao Moutinho scored what turned out to be the winner early in the second half. Despite admitting that the Arsenal centre-back didn’t mean to foul Jose, former Premier League referee Peter Walton explained why the red card decision was correct.
Peter Walton said: “Intent doesn’t come into the law because you can’t read what’s in a player’s mind. So, you’re going by his actions and his actions there were rather careless. In terms of bringing the player down, yes, he doesn’t make an attempt on the ball – that’s the important thing – had he have made an attempt on the ball, it would be a yellow card plus a penalty kick. But because he hasn’t made an attempt on the ball, and the ball is not within playing distance, that becomes a red card and Craig Pawson has no opportunity to give a yellow. It has to be a red card and a penalty kick. If I can just add: that’s the third time I think David Luiz has been sent off for a similar offence, so you say players should learn and understand, maybe so.”
This rule is something that former Chelsea captain doesn’t agree with and made his feelings clear with a lengthy post on Instagram.
John Terry said “Never a red card! Double jeopardy. Anyone who has ever played the game can see David never attempts to play the ball!!! He actually pulls out of the challenge. Which means penalty but no red card, you obviously don’t play and also check the rules yourself.”
