Arsenal news: Trossard's message to team-mates after Manchester City red card | Football

Leandro Trossard reportedly told his team-mates he didn’t hear the whistle before he was controversially sent off in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City.

He received a second yellow card after referee Michael Oliver ruled that Trossard had deliberately delayed the match at the Etihad Stadium. However, in the dressing room, Trossard insisted that he had attempted to pass and had not noticed the referee’s signal according to The Mirror, even explaining this to Oliver before receiving the red card.

This misunderstanding is just one part of Arsenal’s wider concerns arising from this intense match which some City players believe involved Arsenal engaging in “dark arts” such as time-wasting. Yet, contradictorily, official data suggests Arsenal were not guilty of this tactic.

In fact, according to Opta’s figures, the match time with the ball in active play stood at 63 minutes and 29 seconds, making it the fifth longest period with the ball in play this Premier League season.

This raises the question of why there were long periods of added time, notably eight minutes at the end of the first half and nine minutes in the second.

Fourth official Andy Madley had originally signalled six minutes of added time before the end of the match, which was later extended by a further minute following the treatment of an Arsenal player.

The tight schedule facing Arsenal, who returned from an away game against Atalanta at 4am on Thursday morning and then took to the pitch against City just two days later, no doubt explains the high incidence of cramp seen among the players, especially as they were outnumbered for much of the game.

Two minutes were added to added time, allowing John Stones to equalise in the last minute. However, the lack of consistency in added time added to each game is a source of frustration.

Opta statistics revealed that the ball remained in play well beyond the Premier League’s target threshold of 60 minutes.

The longest the ball has been in play for a match this season was in West Ham’s home defeat to City on 31 August, at 66 minutes and 12 seconds. PGMOL insists that added time is calculated to take account of injuries, substitutions and goal celebrations, deeming it fair.

Referee Oliver did not show a yellow card to City winger Jeremy Doku who also kicked the ball, causing a delay in a set piece. It is the second time this season – following Declan Rice’s second yellow card for the same offence – that an Arsenal player has been sent off for kicking the ball when an opposition player avoided punishment.

This inconsistency will likely be Mikel Arteta’s main complaint, while Arsenal could also highlight instances of City players surrounding referee Oliver to protest decisions without facing any repercussions.

Referee Oliver has been accused of double standards for failing to caution Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai for deflecting the ball during the home defeat to Bournemouth. It appeared Szoboszlai was venting his frustration rather than intentionally delaying the restart.