‘INCONSISTENT!’ Was the referee right to send Leandro Trossard off vs. Man City? | ESPN FC

ESPN FC’s Janusz Michallik joins Mark Donaldson to react to some of Michael Oliver’s decisions in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
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[@ulfanfinneriksen4643]

PGMOL have only one function. To protect the referee no matter what he does. Or VAR does. To help Manchester city is the most important, and ruining the game.

[@stevesalkas9128]

Spot on 100000 per game falling apart . Until 115 leave to 2bd division soon

[@saps2901]

You call it a bad game, I call it corruption. Hiding under the guise of incompetence.

[@ansumanacamara9335]

Is all coming to play now, the corruption in that league

[@ephremmicheale2672]

He failed to give a red card to Kovacic last year...what a nonsense and corrupt referee

[@allelaw7015]

He said he did not give Kovacic the red card because he did not want to "ruin" the game. Those were his words.

[@DisillusionedAcronym]

i mean, you CAN say that michael oliver is "generally good but had a bad game" until you think about it and realise that it's the same michael oliver who gleefully gave gabriel martinelli TWO yellow cards for a single run of play (something i have yet to see be repeated). and then you remember that, last year, the same michael oliver steadfastly refused to give kovacic a second yellow card when he slid in and took out odegaard because he'd just gotten his first yellow a few moments prior and he didn't want to "alter" the game. and then you also happen to remember that it was this same michael oliver who was flown over to the UAE and paid a handsome sum to "referee a league game" DURING AN EPL SEASON. and you end up saying, "hmmmmmmmmm."

[@Gecmajster123456]

should be investigated.. there is a way to do it..

[@obieN1]

Oliver is corrupt

[@HAWK_H]

He tried everything possible to help arsenal but he failed in doing so

[@HAWK_H]

​@@Gecmajster123456yeah it should be investigated how he allowed that free kick goal

[@michaelkushaba3054]

Good decision by Michael Oliver

[@cheviidevii]

Michael Oliver also as given Arsenal more red cards than any other team in EPL for the last 4+ years.

[@EZ-MuZiK]

Yup i always say that i hate it when he refs us...he and Paul Tierney

[@hawk2328]

Good 😂😂

[@aundrewhite7486]

He's is the problem

[@HAWK_H]

We(city) would have won by atleast 4 goals had he not given that ridiculous free kick goal

[@hawk2328]

@@HAWK_H 4??? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 yeah ok buddy. And guess who fault is for getting all those yellow cards??? Not city lol 😝😝🤣🤣 let me give you another bottle for this 🍼

[@robertpantor4366]

Michael Oliver is on the UAE’s payroll. Referees Corruption is ruining the EPL.

[@thezanzibarbarian5729]

We'll see, again, just how corrupt the FA is next year when Man. Cheaty115 just get a pathetic fine for their 115 financial dealings. Imagine fining a multi billion pound country a couple million? If even that?! I'll be like a normal person being fined £1.

[@stevesalkas9128]

Why don't people do something about it .. why he always ref 115 v arsenal games

[@jkilla21389]

It’s not inconsistency if it’s consistently towards the same team

[@almuhaarib]

That’s why he let Arsenals first bogus free kick to goal stand??

[@thelegendhimself.]

​@@almuhaaribhow was it bogus?

[@yawoduroamoah8038]

​@almuhaarib Walker had enough time to return to his position but he was in midfield issuing instructions

[@akhigbeosiluamhe4818]

As much as I'm in pain rn, this is hilarious 😂

[@Jamaicanvibe]

Obviously he called walker to chat​@@thelegendhimself.

[@ernestkola0]

That is English referees for you 💯

[@jleemagee]

“Micheal Oliver I think is a pretty good referee” This guy is a next level muppet^

[@Amberle38]

Michael Oliver earnes 20k a match in the UAE working for City's owners. Conflict of interest, but it'll never be looked into of course.

[@kontorboateng3947]

Michael Oliver savaged a draw for Man City

[@HAWK_H]

If not for that ridiculous free kick goal we would have won by atleast 4 goals

[@oliverwhite9963]

@@HAWK_Hyeah alright mate you couldn’t score against ten men

[@russellward4624]

​@@oliverwhite9963did score against 10 men mate. Lol

[@oliverwhite9963]

@@russellward4624 you had no clue what to do until the corrupt mr Oliver adds an extra two mins on to the 7 added. I honestly believe that game would have gone on for as long as it took for city to score the guys a muppet he couldn’t wait to get his card out for trossard wen missing last year though for kovacic.

[@stevesalkas9128]

Always 😅😅😅

[@dandreehlers9817]

Why is it ALWAYS Arsenal that get soft yellows and get shafted for the same thing all other teams get away with....var cost us 8 point last year and oliver is always biased against us

[@zayyanroomy5327]

💯 it always happens against Arsenal with same Referee! It’s totally unfair

[@MercWTM2]

@@zayyanroomy5327didn’t Arsenal literally foul Bassey (Fulham vs Arsenal 2-2) last year and then score from that same counter attack? What a dumb fanbase.

[@zayyanroomy5327]

@@MercWTM2 Why Doku and Bernardo weren’t Booked for kicking the Ball? You Dumb did you even watch the game?

[@samizayn5666]

​@@MercWTM2Ask Liverpool fans they'll say it happens against them only. Ask Arsenal fans they'll say the same. Ask United fans they'll say the same. Ask City fans about their matches vs. Madrid they'll say the same. Ask Madrid about matches vs. Barça in 2010s they'll say the same.

[@russellward4624]

They weren't soft. Partey should have been Cardedu in the 1st minute.

[@addeyaddey5608]

The whole world is laughing at the league.

[@ansumanacamara9335]

Is one of the most corrupt league in the world.Everything is coming out now

[@stevesalkas9128]

Farmers in coming not best no more it's falling apart

[@joegrehan8608]

Ridiculous that games are being decided by a player kicking a ball away.

[@thepebblesexplore83]

Only if they weren’t warned ahead of time. It’s silly to keep doing it and then get upset when they did what they said they would do.

[@RedditGrapevine]

Control what’s in your control. Trossard didn’t need to do it, and it’s within his control not to. End of discussion - from an Arsenal fan.

[@TacoVibe]

Trossard is simply to blame.

[@tristanmichael45]

Doku got away with it no card wonder why😂

[@runedahl9525]

Corrupt ref.. happends time after time

[@darlingtonobi3324]

Honestly refreshing to see people calling out the referee

[@maxmaxie1328]

No ref was spot on...

[@chazclifford327]

Thats what you gathered from the video lol​@@maxmaxie1328

[@scirocco313]

Its too obvious now. Such a disgrace

[@bjorn2970]

Sheikh Mansour has the refs and PGMOL in his pocket.

[@solomonmarquis583]

Corrupt referees

[@ansumanacamara9335]

And corrupt league

[@zayyanroomy5327]

There’s something wrong between Michael Oliver and Arsenal💯 Same game, Doku and Bernardo kicked the ball and yet they were not Booked😱🤷🏻‍♂️ Why always Arsenal? It’s really sad 😔

[@jishnuadhikari5234]

Its actually Micheal Oliver and City. Similar things happened at Liverpool also.

[@ChelseaYesCarefreealwayswi-d7v]

I’m not gonna lie I could say this, but city Kind of does play with 12 even though Arsenal Fans say that they will deserve credit for not losing

[@akmal94ibrahim]

If the yellow card was for the foul, then why not book Haaland for doing similar if not worse to Gabriel earlier?

[@syedasameera6818]

R u dumb? He got two yellows while haaland didn't play that rough troassatd already got a yellow and other fouls also before

[@eddiebusey3652]

It wasn't for the foul tho

[@chazclifford327]

​@@eddiebusey3652Were you listening to the video? NBC and sky have access to the same VAR audio centre yet NBC commentary was talking about the VAR stating it was reckless, but sky saying he kicked it away (which was later confirmed by the prem match centre). Go back and listen to everything objectively

[@threeminuteshate]

Or for throwing the ball at Gabriel’s head once they scored in stoppage time.

[@bored2dad]

Do PL referees declare their assets?

[@Mrursi]

It looks like the rule is not so much about kicking the ball away to waist time, but kicking the ball away while an Arsenal player!

[@nicoraju6843]

City owns PGMOL and the premiere league

[@bluecheese4877]

Good 👍

[@acediamond7524]

I completely agree, they’ve ruined the league. Never seen such obvious corruption in the Premier League

[@foreverzJ]

Easy to notice

[@Mcfc81]

😢😢😢😢

[@HAWK_H]

That's why he allowed that ridiculous free kick goal even though he himself called walker??

[@MusaBash-m5n]

Am saying again and again as long as Howard web is the head of the referees just prepare for the worst

[@skruflex7290]

Indeed. but his name is Coward Web. just FYI. He will go on the monday PGMOL show and back all his mates as normal.

[@MusaBash-m5n]

@@skruflex7290 this guys are just backing themselves up

[@Delboy0]

I’m getting tired of bad refereeing decisions every season costing Man City’s closest rivals games and points that end up losing them the league. Same happened to Liverpool last year and if the points they had lost due to bad refereeing decisions had counted they would have won the Premier League. Remember the Premier League allows Premier League referees and VAR officials during the season to go to the UAE, the country of Man City owners, to get paid lots of money to referee games and go to conferences. Surely this should not be allowed as this is a conflict of interest and effectively open bribery. If Prem refereeing are earning more money doing football gigs in the UAE, surely this creates a bias towards Man City.

[@RoyPeters1]

Good point. It seems the ppl up top don't care about us the fans.

[@patrikcarlsson8975]

LETTER OF THE LAW OF CORRUPTION

[@marlier7272]

Only consistent with Arsenal and people want to say City are the better team it's a joke

[@alonsoalcocerguemez6951]

Finally someone speaking the truth

[@andrewlunt7557]

Doku kicked the ball away as well.

[@NonPressure]

MOTD tonight will say referee got it right - standard response to anything to do with referee controversy

[@Winwin-sd4ui]

Same ref that didn’t give Kovacic a second yellow last season in Arsenal Man city

[@daverobertson623]

Funny how when people start talking about the fact that two city players kick the ball away, they ignore their own f****** tweet about the reason they gave the red card. Unbelievable.

[@pohlcat6996]

I’m a neutral, but taking a player off in a game of this magnitude for half of the game was awful. Let the teams decide, not the referees. These changing rationalizations show how subjective Oilver’s decision was and tipped the scales in favor of the EPL’s premier team.

[@authenicdre2149]

This guy knows football!

[@barugambireismailismail1688]

Rodri might be a 39 year old , guy was falling like new one day born giraffe

[@rajeshvelu4560]

M. Oliver ruined the game !! his judgments were below standards.

[@abdiyusuf3544]

Michael Oliver had a bad day, really something wasn't okay with him.

[@achuta]

Coul be his hormones

[@mohra968]

Arsenal is good but oil money is way better

[@mariuszsurowiec939]

I guess referees decide who wins the game. This is BS.

[@mojo18287]

Corruption

[@lewismurphy8650]

Corruption is now called inconsistencies these days. The ref has done it loads of times. Same team who paid this ref 20,000 per game. Same refs who keeps making decisions for Mancity.

[@takelesugebo5672]

Premierleague refs.are taiking salary from Man City.

[@Murefu2915]

Why then didn't he give Reuben Diaz a second yellow when he elbows Harvetz.

[@yohanneslegesse9230]

Michael Oliver has ruined every team for the most outcome on man city last year when Liverpool when on a verge of winning a penalty he didn’t gave it which is going to play huge role on the tittle race absolute disgrace michael Oliver

[@stevegregory2545]

the Refs are booking for nothing

[@hpk3727]

Maybe Refs should pay a fine for everyone poor decision they make in a game?

[@sjchan3199]

If they do thst theyll be bankrupt and corrupt

[@iHeizar]

Micheal Oliver is the worst corrupted referee in FIFA. He needs to be checked..

[@iliagorev1819]

It's such a shame that a game of this magnitude, with that brilliant first half, is spoken through the lens of refereeing and not the game itself. Arteta was spot on, I thought, in his presser, that not a single question was actually tactics-related. And also, big thanks for speaking some sense on the matter, as opposed to the ever PGMOL-glazing Sky

[@thefilmmakerprollc]

I say and I quote Jürgen Klopp "Michael Oliver who is supposed to be the best English referee" this was after another bad refereeing game among many of his. The truth is that this guy cannot control a football game which is actually supposed to be his game, 90% of the games he's involved in are controversial.

[@oliverwhite9963]

The fact he didn’t send kovacic off last year but sent trossard just tells you all you need to know Michael Oliver is on the pay roll

[@dreamingpain]

Didn’t take long to show how they really feel towards arsenal

[@petekadenz2466]

Second time the opponent kicks the ball away and didn’t award a yellow card, but when it happens to an Arsenal player, in both cases the referee “has no choice” but to issue a yellow card because he kicked the ball away.

[@nicklingardo7624]

Remember, VAR got involved in Rice’s 2nd yellow even though they aren’t supposed to.

[@ralphwillems2274]

Watching the game live, he gives the 2nd yellow for the foul than pgmol uses the kicking of the ball as an excuse.

[@daveinniss954]

Conspiracy? Yellow for the foul, if not, yellow for kicking the ball away. OFF!

[@NickChemist-yf6oj]

What about yellow for Doku or Bernardo for kicking the ball away than ? Or how about Haaland throwing the ball at Gabriel’s head after the goal . None of those were yellows yet an Arsenal player kicks the ball away it’s yellow . Conspiracy comes in when it’s only certain teams that get the “ rules are rules “ treatment .

[@draechen2321]

That red card was a total disgrace. I feel for Arsenal

[@tortada1]

Michael Oliver is paid by the City group to referee games overseas. How is it not a conflict of interest? Someone explain this to me?

[@ziadxftbl]

Man 2 views in one minute yall fell off

[@AA-xx4zh]

The EPL is getting ruined by corrupt referees 😢

[@cojocaruiulian651]

Arab money man😢

[@NickChemist-yf6oj]

It’s turned the once great EPL into the Abu Dhabi league

[@bluecheese4877]

City should be awarded all 3 points

[@shinichikudoz]

nah...better just straight give city epl cup now

[@NickChemist-yf6oj]

Agreed just give city every title there is and teams refuse to play them until they answer their 115 charges .

[@osdelhdez6796]

What a disgrace.

[@joehouston2833]

10 men v 12 men

[@hawk2328]

Its common sense dont play dirty u dont get no cards 😂 keep crying

[@NickChemist-yf6oj]

@hawk play dirty like throwing the ball at the back of your opponent’s head after you score ? It’s common knowledge different rules apply for the 115ers

[@RoseGoldGunner09]

Doku and Bernardo kicked the ball away in the first half then crickets…

[@sunepba]

Maybe u need to watch better. Doku didn't kicked the ball away. The refree instructed the ball to be taken back because arsenal were trying to take the freekick way ahead from the spot. so doku just helped the refree

[@rayxperia1066]

same story every year man city being favored by every refree in pl so no way any other team will win it. PL is decided before it even kicks off

[@ogidiamaurinrin630]

​@@sunepbaThat's the most silly comment I ever heard, since when is it Doku's responsibility to 'help' the referee?

[@therealking6202]

​@@sunepbaMaybe you need to understand the rules better. They are forbidden from touching the ball under any circumstances. What about the time Doku literally picked the ball up and held on to it then? Was that also "helping the ref?!?"

[@chriskey7440]

​@@sunepbaJust helped the referee 🤣😂.

[@andrewlunt7557]

I'm sure Craig, Stevie and Nadum will critique Arsenal and defend the ref, per usual.

[@BabasolaOso]

Those guys have become predictable, boring and one-way

[@JonnieBlaze411]

Common sense is missing, credit to the boys for squeaking out a draw. Let us just ignoretge Doku incident. Playing against 13 (Man City, the referee and the Emirati State) is no mean feat.

[@forevergooner4400]

So basically he got a second yellow for that foul 😂😂

[@ezra2868]

Trossard is the one to blame kicking the ball away.

[@sebigwangwajoan9923]

You say trossard shld blame himself yaa you right bt we are talking ov here is consistency doku did dah same en no card was issued pedro did di Sam no card

[@uptownmay9042]

We can all see what this is 👀

[@naha5595]

Trossard guilty of being an Arsenal player

[@jiman6ix3]

I mean isn't it possible trossard thought that was the whistle to end the half given they were about a minute over the stoppage time.🤷🏾‍♂️

[@TerribleEnglish]

I've been waiting for several years now to see one of these big, controversial decisions go against Man City.. 😮

[@morlaibangura8688]

I can't call it inconsistency but hate against Arsenal. The English referring system is corrupt.

[@emdeck80]

I cant recall any kind a same "mistake" made by a referee against city. Its not even a mistake, its very consistent supporting one team by the refs- in one word- corruption simple as that. Disgrace

[@allelaw7015]

How can you say Trossard was delaying a restart when Silva was lying on the floor for more than 20 secs and needed treatment?

[@hs-ti4fr]

Y'all literally explained why the doku and trossard situations were different, then you ask why were they refereed differently. Doku kicks it back to where the foul was given, Trossard blasted it to the other end of the field. Btw why is no one talking about how the ref called Walker up to speak to him, then restarted the game before he could get back into position to defend?

[@NickChemist-yf6oj]

Why is no one talking about the whistle should’ve been blowned for halftime a minute before the Trossard incident ?

[@NickChemist-yf6oj]

Walker had plenty of time to defend , he was hogging and chatting in the middle of the field I’ve seen him run sure wasn’t busting a gut to get back into position was he ?

[@hs-ti4fr]

@@NickChemist-yf6oj literally no one sprints back into position when the ball is dead. The ref always waits till they're back before resuming play. And added time is always a minimum amount. Gabriel's goal and celebration, then the var check was all already in added time which led to more time being added on

[@maduekene9449]

Same referee who decided not to issue a red card to kovacic last season cos he doesn't want to cause a negative impact in the match and today he has lost his principle. Premier league officiating is a disaster

[@JONATHANKUMI-d5r]

If we say this is the best league in the world then am sorry

[@chazclifford327]

It just seems as if they were looking for every reason to swnd him off. NBC commentary was talking reckless tackle and sky was talking about kicking away the ball. Secondly, dias was actively converging on the end ball to compete for it with martinelli looking to sprint on the left looking for a trossard pass. I genuinely think this was nonsense regardless of whichever team you support. It absolutely ruined the game

[@bekeletessema7337]

Bst

[@alekseifedorov949]

If you say it was a kick, means you're have absolutely no clue in this episode. It was an obvious lob pass to Martinelli who ran in behind defenders backs

[@veritigag]

Well said Janusz!

[@TatendaMutepfa-rv3hq]

Betting is not there for fun. The refeee's son might have opted for over 3.5

[@keiongarnett1825]

City legit cant beat arsenal with 10 men im sure if Leandro wasn't sent off they would've scored another goal

[@Hazy-c5k]

5:25 If VAR can't get involved in a yellow card decision why was VAR telling Chris Kavanagh in the audio that Rice needs to be send off for kicking the ball away...? The PGMOL make up the rules as they go along.

[@chiemelachukwu1283]

You are a very honest person. The ball was still in the air after the heading when Trossard played it.

[@Gevin555]

Im shocked, the ref was shambolic... I dont want to see this happen to any club.

[@ClaudioNascimentousa]

The referee was ridiculous on his decision

[@jeffevans4196]

Bernardo Silva and Doku both did it earlier in the match without any yellow card. Michael Oliver also let two awful challenges go by Kovacic last year

[@AliJason313]

People say Arsenal fans are deluded, they’re NOT there just right they constantly get targeted! What a disgraceful call in such a massive game leads me to believe the game is rigged.

[@KwameAboagye-p2p]

Michael Oliver got it wrong when he didn't book Jeremy Doku. Trossard was irresponsible.

[@kibwikaisaac11]

It's consistent against Arsenal😂😂

[@KagisoTladi]

We left with a point & Rodris ACL

[@atayohabib935]

How do you even explain a bad game by the same referee against the same team year in and year out

[@maccharlesobani9521]

RefChester City💀

[@vinnyseurattan5469]

Michael Oliver created and helped City during the 90 minutes. It has nothing to do with being consistent or inconsistent. That's why they are being accessed of 115 charges

[@bintupalmer]

Michael Oliver Vs Arsenal EPL officials are the biggest jokers in football 😂

[@kaboggozascanan]

Stop the whole Arsenal mourning. Doku was sending the ball back to arsenal

[@Morlan-h4q]

Arsenal second half was an embarrassment to football. Liverpool would have played football with 10

[@HubertofLiege]

First play of the game is a foul by Havertz, maybe THAT had something to do with the referee’s attitude

[@ifysglobalchannel]

Nope! Arsenal ❤could easily have beaten them. The referee was Man City's 12th man. Such people bring the game into disrepute.