Chief refereeing officer Howard Webb has revealed that referee Chris Kavanagh made a mistake before Declan Rice’s red card in Arsenal’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Brighton last month.
Arsenal were incensed when Rice received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away during the match at the Emirates Stadium on August 31. However, prior to Rice’s dismissal, Brighton forward Joao Pedro avoided a booking despite delaying Arsenal’s restart by kicking the ball away.
Webb believes Kavanagh should have issued a yellow card to Pedro before Rice’s red card.
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Commenting on the incident, Webb told Metro UK, “Pedro wasn’t booked, and he should have been. It’s a similar type of scenario involving delaying the restart. He should have been cautioned.”
Webb explained further, “The officials on the field gave Pedro too much benefit of the doubt, thinking his actions weren’t impactful because the Arsenal players were not ready to take the throw-in. However, Pedro’s actions did delay Arsenal’s ability to restart, and that should have been a yellow card.”