Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has delivered his verdict on David Luiz’s red card against Wolves. Luiz was sent off during Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Wolves on Tuesday night, initially receiving a yellow card before Craig Pawson reviewed the incident on the VAR monitor and upgraded it to a red card. The decision proved pivotal with the Gunners 1-0 up at the time, going on to lose 2-1, and goalkeeper Bernd Leno was also sent off, coming out of his box and pushing a through ball away with his arm in the second half. Fans were left furious with Luiz’s red card, and many pundits agreed, the Arsenal defender doing his best to pull away from Willian Jose whose trailing leg seemed to cause the tangle.
Manchester United boss Solskjaer was another who disagreed with the call having watched the game before his side thrashed Southampton 9-0 at Old Trafford later in the evening.Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “Funnily enough, I had a discussion with referees before the game and just asked them about David Luiz sending off, because I didn’t think he should’ve been sent off and Bednarek definitely shouldn’t have been sent off”.
Mikel Arteta, of course, agreed, saying: “If there’s any contact it’s him with David. Again, I don’t know if they have a different angle what they have or you have.That’s where the disappointment is coming from. It’s hard enough to win football games in the league and those big decisions are like that but it’s nothing we can change at the moment.”
It has since been confirmed that Arsenal will appeal the Luiz red card decision and if successful, the centre-back will be able to play against Aston Villa on Saturday. If not, the Gunners will be without him for one game, though they should be able to manage given Gabriel Magalhaes impressed after coming into the fray against Wolves. Arsenal will not appeal the Leno call and he will serve a one-game suspension.
