Arsenal should have had Mikel Merino sent off following his foul on Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, the Premier League’s incidents panel have concluded
The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents Panel has ruled that Mikel Merino should have been sent off during Arsenal’s 4-1 home win over Aston Villa on December 30.
With the Gunners 2-0 up, Merino pulled back Morgan Rogers in the 58th minute, yet referee Darren England chose not to hand the Spaniard his second yellow card.
In a unanimous 5-0 decision, the panel concluded that Merino had ‘clearly stopped a promising attack by pulling the arm of Rogers, and a second caution should have been awarded.’
Because VAR cannot intervene on second yellow‑card incidents, Merino remained on the pitch.
At the time, Villa argued it should have been Merino’s second yellow of the match, having already been booked for a foul on Amadou Onana shortly before half-time.
The Key Match Incidents Panel’s decisions from the first half of the season show that Mikel Arteta’s side benefited from a single VAR error.
Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey, who was asked for his thoughts on the incident, wrote on X: “This was a deliberate holding offence by Merino on Rogers that should have resulted in a 2nd [yellow card emoji] for denying a promising attack.”
When asked if it comes into the referee’s mind that a player has already been booked, Halsey replied: “Not every challenge is a [yellow card emoji].
“Referees will judge challenges on its merits, IMO [in my opinion] there are far too many [yellow card emoji] shown unnecessarily, referees have lost the art of managing these players.
“The holding offence by Merino was a nailed on 2nd [yellow card emoji].”
Had Merino been dismissed, Villa might have found a way back into the game, but Arteta recognised the danger and substituted the Spaniard just over 10 minutes later.
Gabriel Magalhaes, Martin Zubimendi, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus all added their names to the scoresheet, while Ollie Watkins struck a stoppage‑time consolation for the visitors.
Arsenal sit atop the Premier League, 14 points clear of current champions Liverpool, while Manchester City and Villa are both six points behind the Gunners in second and third respectively.
They will be in Carabao Cup action on Wednesday night, facing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (8pm), before travelling to Nottingham Forest for a Premier League clash on Saturday.
