“I don’t think” — Jamie Carragher weighs in on Tomiyasu red card as Arsenal sneak win over Crystal Palace

Arsenal were reduced to ten men in their latest Premier League clash after Takehiro Tomiyasu picked up two yellow cards in the space of seven minutes against Crystal Palace. The Japanese international went into the book initially for time-wasting during a throw in, and then a tug on the shirt of Jordan Ayew resulted in his marching orders issued.

The Gunners are now down another senior defender after Tomiyasu stepped up to replace new signing Jurriën Timber, who is set for a lengthy period on the sidelines after tearing his ACL against Nottingham Forest.

Tomiyasu’s first yellow against Palace was a result of the new time-wasting rules implemented. It was a tricky situation as David Coote had warned Thomas Partey just seconds before about taking his time to retrieve the ball.

Kai Havertz then held onto the ball while hesitating on the throw in, but it was Tomiyasu who went into the book after he also delayed in possession of the ball. Just minutes later, he was shown red.

Speaking after the match on Monday Night Football, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher weighed in on the situation which led to the defender’s sending off and whether it was a harsh call from Coote or not.

“I felt a little bit unfortunate for Tomiyasu in that I think he took one for the team, because it was Partey and then Havertz, so it was almost like a yellow card for the team for time-wasting — he [Coote] had to give it to someone and he [Tomiyasu] got it.

“It always feels like a little bit of an injustice when you have a man sent off but it was the right decision. The pull back, he’s on a yellow card, yeah, he has to go for that, even though it seemed a little bit soft and it wasn’t the biggest pull. But once you’re on a yellow card, he has to go off for that so I don’t think you can have a look at the referee and say that he got it wrong.”