Roy Keane has ripped into Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta for his post-match remarks on referee Michael Oliver’s decision to send off Leandro Trossard in their 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
Like Declan Rice’s dismissal against Brighton earlier this month, Trossard was issued a second yellow card on the stroke of half-time for kicking the ball away.
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Arsenal manager noted discrepancies in Oliver’s decision-making following City winger Jeremy Doku’s non- booking despite also appearing to delay play by kicking the ball away.
‘There were two incidents, very similar.’ Arteta said, during a post-match interview. ‘In particular, one was very different with a different outcome that forces you to play a game that nobody wanted to watch.’
When drawn on the Trossard dismissal, Arteta responded icily: ‘You can ask me, but it’s that obvious I don’t have to comment.’
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Mikel Arteta has criticised officiating performances in a frosty post-match interview following his side’s 2-2 draw vs Manchester City
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But Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane has said Arteta needs to move past using the same excuse
‘Deep down he’ll be satisfied with a point. Show a bit of class, manager of Arsenal. He probably deserved the red card, we reacted well and we move on.
‘That’s the end of it. Take your medicine and move on. Show a bit of class.’
One he’s getting tired of hearing, the Man United veteran claimed Arteta’s on-air complaints represented a larger trend of managers being critical of Premier League officiating performance.
‘Wouldn’t it be good if a manager came out after a game and just said: ‘Yeah, you know what he was a bit silly, it was a yellow card,’ Keane said.
‘Every manager is coming out every week going: ‘No, it wasn’t a foul, it wasn’t this, something happened five minutes earlier.’
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Mikel Arteta’s post-match demeanour was frosty, as he gave short responses to reporters
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Arteta fumed over Leandro Trossard’s dismissal, after the Gunners forward was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away
‘Just come out and be big enough… players do daft stuff on a football pitch, come out and show a bit of class and say: ‘The referee gave him a chance to send him off. We’re disappointed but we move on.”
After goals from defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel turned the game on its head following Erling Haaland’s early opener, Arsenal headed into half-time 2-1 up. But Trossard’s red card transformed the game.
After the interval, Arteta put out his side in an ultra-defensive 5-4-0 shape to try to hang on to their advantage while City was totally dominant in terms of possession and shots; the Gunners limited them to efforts from range and appeared ready for a famous triumph.
That was until John Stones’s 98th-minute equaliser kept City top and left Arteta ablaze.