Alan Shearer in no doubt about William Saliba red as MOTD pundit highlights error
William Saliba was sent off early in Arsenal's game against Bournemouth and the Cherries capitalised on their advantage to win the match 2-0 thanks to goals from Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert
by Matthew Cooper · The MirrorAlan Shearer believes William Saliba was rightly sent off in Arsenal's 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday after a VAR check.
Saliba was initially shown a yellow card by referee Rob Jones after bringing down Evanilson in the first-half, but that was upgraded to a red card after he was encouraged to review the incident by VAR.
The defender was deemed to have denied Bournemouth a clear goalscoring opportunity and Arsenal were left with 10 men for the rest of the game. Bournemouth ultimately made the most of their advantage, with goals from Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert earning them an important victory.
It was also Arsenal's first defeat of the season and Shearer was not only critical of Saliba's challenge on Evanilson, but he also took aim at Leandro Trossard as well. "It was definitely the right decision," Shearer said when analysing the incident on BBC Match of the Day.
"He [the ref] got there in the end. It was a poor decision from Trossard, he just doesn’t quite get the backpass right, and obviously you can't be offside. Evanilson's one v one, Saliba - there's no need to foul him, there's still a long way to go and so much to do.
"But there's no way [Ben] White's getting back, and from another angle from behind the goal you can just see the goalkeeper start to backpedal when he realises he's not going to get anywhere near the ball.
"The ref gave a yellow card, was told to go to the screen, and that's where VAR works really well. So definitely the correct decision, and Bournemouth punished them for it."
Former Premier League goalkeeper Shay Given added: "I think it's the right decision, I don't understand why Rob Jones gave him a yellow to start with. At the end of the day they've made the right decision and he's got to go off."
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, bemoaned the fact it was the third time in eight games that his side have had a player sent off. "It was a decision made on the pitch. That decision was changed. I don't think it will change twice. The decision has been made," he said when asked about the incident.
"We are very disappointed with the result and gutted because we had to play in that context again. Even more difficult than the previous two that we have faced this season to do it with 65 or 68 minutes with 10 men at this level, it's just an impossible task."
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