Michael Oliver and Arsenal are not the best of friends. The Gunners fanbase widely loathe him – in fairness, when you look at his a record of officiating Arsenal games, it isn’t hard to see why.
As such, their chagrin when he was appointed as referee for the North London Derby against Tottenham Hotspur was duly noted.
Here are five occasions where Michael Oliver made a dubious call against the Gunners in the Premier League.
Wrongful dismissal of Myles Lewis-Skelly
Let’s start this list with the incident that is still fresh in people’s minds. Myles Lewis-Skelly was shown a red card in a game against Wolves after he committed a tactical foul to stop Wolves breaking out. The rulebook clearly states that this is a yellow card offence – nevertheless, Oliver handed Lewis-Skelly his marching orders.
The only reason we didn’t put this any higher on our list was because Arsenal would ultimately win the game – it was an appalling decision, but its effects were ultimately insignificant in the grand scheme of this.
Failure to send off Eric Dier in 2016
From Oliver’s latest Arsenal incident to his first – this one took place during an electric North London Derby in 2016.
Arsenal led early on, but were pegged back to 2-1 after Francis Coquelin was sent off. This wasn’t the issue – Oliver’s blunder came when he inexplicably chose to not send off Eric Dier, even when he pulled back Oliver Giroud during a counter. As we previously stated, this sort of thing is a stonewall yellow card offence – therefore, he definitely got this one wrong.
Giving Gabriel Martinelli two double-quick yellows
Again, this was a game where Arsenal won, but this decision had a more lasting effect – Lewis-Skelly’s red card against Wolves was rescinded, but this one remained in place.
It all happened very quickly – Gabriel Martinelli was frustrated to have conceded a throw-in, as he felt the ball was still in play. He pushed over Wolves’ Daniel Podence, earning him a yellow, then was given a red after he was judged to have tried to stop the throw coming in. Essentially, the Brazilian was sent off before he even knew it.
Sending off Ainsley Maitland-Niles against Leicester City
Arsenal were off the pace on this day, but their struggles were compounded when Oliver sent off Ainsley Maitland-Niles for two soft yellow cards. The first was dubious, as was the second – sparking the ire of then-manager Unai Emery.
The writing was on the wall for Emery as this point, but he nonetheless berated the decision in his post-match interview. Leicester boss, Brendan Rodgers, agreed with Oliver’s decision. Go figure.
Giving Leandro Trossard a second yellow for ‘time wasting’
Out of all of Oliver’s poor decisions that went against Arsenal, we feel this was his worst display of incompetence. During a crucial game against Manchester City last season, Oliver booked Leandro Trossard for a foul – this was fair enough. His second yellow, however, wasn’t.
Mere milliseconds after Oliver blew his whistle, Trossard kicked the ball away. This was, in Oliver’s eyes, time-wasting (even though it took place during the first half) – and therefore, grounds to show the Belgian international a second yellow. This was the height of Oliver’s pedantry – Arsenal fans will hope he isn’t feeling quite as harsh on Sunday as he was on this day.
Keep it friendly
Just as a disclaimer – please do not send abuse or harassment of any kind to Oliver, or any referee, after reading this article. Officials don’t always get it right – but this does not mean they deserve to be the subject of online bullying. We thoroughly condemn harassment, bullying and abuse in all forms.