Sunderland lost 3-0 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon
Referee Sam Barrott was right not to show Brian Brobbey a red card for his challenge on Martin Zubimendi, according to former Premier League official Dermot Gallagher and striker Jay Bothroyd.
The pair analysed the key incidents in Sunderland's 3-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon as part of their regular slot on the Ref Watch programme. Arsenal were left furious when Brobbey caught Zubimendi midway through the first half, with the scores still level at that stage. Brobbey was shown a yellow card and both felt that was the right decision, with the contact deemed to be minimal and Gallagher adamant that there was no intent from the Sunderland striker.
Gallagher said: "Brobbey's knee is bent so there's not a massive impact and he lands on Zubimendi's foot. He doesn't follow through and he's actually pulling out."
Bothroyd, meanwhile, added: "Brobbey can see Zubimendi coming. He's trying to get his body in. It's not a straight leg. He has caught him, but it's brushed off his shin. That's not a red card, it's not intentional."
Bothroyd, however, did feel that Reinildo was fortunate to escape punishment for his attempts to stop Viktor Gyokeres from scoring Arsenal's third goal late in the game. Reinildo challenged the striker just as he got his shot away, and Bothroyd believes he could have seen red had the goal not been scored.
"I think that's a red card," Bothroyd said.
"That's dangerous. He's lunging, out of control, high. I think the fact that Gyokeres scored the goal is why it hasn't been looked at. If he missed that, I think he would then get a red card."
Gallagher disagreed, arguing that the actual contact was not as severe as some of the still images suggested.
"I don't think it's a red card," Gallagher said.
"It looks bad there but he doesn't catch him at that point. I think it's a yellow card [if Gyokeres doesn't score]."
There was also a VAR check at the end of the first half after a penalty was awarded when Dan Ballard fouled Gabriel Jesus as he ran through on goal, but it was subsequently confirmed that the striker was just in an offside position when the through ball was played.
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Dan Ballard's verdict on Sunderland's defeat at Arsenal
"I think we had quite a strong performance to be honest," Ballard said.
"I think especially the first half I thought we were really good. Had some dangerous set pieces, had a couple of chances and in the end those small details really punished us today. I think our performance probably didn't reflect the scoreline but that's the Premier League. Small mistakes, small details, you get punished for it.
"The first goal especially was extremely disappointing. We had a really good response in the second half and again, small mistakes and then the game was pretty much done at that point. We played our game, tried to be ourselves. We tried to have some control of the ball and I thought we certainly did, had a lot of set pieces. Whilst it was 0-0, you could feel the anxiety in the stadium. So I think that once they scored it was more difficult for us."
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