Referee Chris Kavanagh puzzled BBC pundit Stephen Warnock after showing Arsenal midfield star Kai Havertz a costly yellow card away to Liverpool on Saturday evening....
Referee Chris Kavanagh puzzled BBC pundit Stephen Warnock after showing Arsenal midfield star Kai Havertz a costly yellow card away to Liverpool on Saturday evening.
The 38-year-old official opted to give Havertz a rather questionable yellow card in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage-time. Kavanagh believed the 24-year-old merited a caution for his foul on Wataru Endo. Yet Warnock felt it was barely a foul, let alone also worth a caution.
Endo flopped to the floor after losing out to Havertz in a shoulder-to-shoulder tussle on the cusp of the break. Both players grappled with the other to try and gain the advantage when the ball broke free. But Kavanagh decided that Havertz fouled Endo to get marginally ahead.
Arsenal star Kai Havertz’s yellow card at Liverpool puzzled Stephen Warnock
Kavanagh likely felt Havertz deserved the yellow card having cautioned Endo minutes before after pulling Gabriel Martinelli back. The Liverpool midfielder accepted his medicine to avoid letting the Brazilian have a chance to burst clear. It was a cut-and-dry call for his tactical foul.
But unlike with Martinelli, both Endo and Havertz were engaged in the tussle which brought about the German’s booking. So, Warnock felt Kavanagh overreacted by issuing Havertz the yellow card that will now rule the midfielder out when Arsenal host West Ham United next.
“That’s not a yellow card,” Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live. “It’s barely a foul. It’s shoulder-to-shoulder between Havertz and Endo and both players are trying to win the ball. Come on, that’s not a yellow card.”
What Arsenal games will Kai Havertz now miss after reaching five yellow cards?
Kavanagh deciding to caution Havertz for winning a shoulder-to-shoulder tussle at Liverpool will now see him sit out Arsenal’s next match through suspension. The 42-cap Germany star has received five yellow cards through 18 Premier League outings since joining the Gunners.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has started Havertz in 12 of the Emirates Stadium outfit’s 18 top-flight fixtures since he left Chelsea. So, he only needed to avoid a caution against Liverpool and at home to West Ham on Thursday before the threshold for a ban rises to 32 matches.
Premier League rules enforce a one-match ban after five yellow cards in their team’s first 19 games. The threshold then rises to 10 in 32 before a two-match ban. But Havertz earned his fifth yellow card during Arsenal’s 18th game, so he will have to sit out the visit of West Ham.