Kepa Arrizabalaga's foul on Jeremy Doku in the Carabao Cup final was "a clear yellow card" because it was not a goalscoring opportunity, says former referee Mike Dean. The Arsenal goalkeeper was cautioned early in the second half for fouling Manchester City winger Doku outside of his penalty box following a long ball forward. Kepa was well outside of his area at the time and misjudged the bounce of the ball before wrestling with the Belgian to stop him getting a clear shot at an empty goal.
But Doku was well wide and Arsenal had players scrambling back. City manager Pep Guardiola was still frustrated, though, and made his exasparation clear towards fourth official Tom Bramall at Wembley. Former Premier League match official Dean, who now works for Sky Sports, said on their broadcast: "It is a clear yellow card - I feel sorry for the referee, he [Peter Bankes] penalises him too quick, but he went so wide it is not a clear goalscoring opportunity."
While pundit Gary Neville added: "I think you’re right Mike, I think the referee should have allowed the advantage a little bit longer to see if a goal came of it."
After avoiding a dismissal in the 50th minute, Kepa made a catastrophic error to allow Arsenal to go 1-0 up 10 minutes later. The back-up keeper spilt a Rayan Cherki cross for Nico O'Reilly to head in from two yards out.