Myles Lewis-Skelly's controversial red card against Wolves and the 10 worst refereeing decisions to go against Arsenal under Mikel Arteta - ranked

It's incredibly rare to see a player pick up two bookings in a matter of seconds for successive cynical fouls. That's mostly because most players aren't daft enough to actually tread that line.

Gabriel Martinelli found himself dismissed for such an offence away at Wolves in February 2022, shoving Daniel Podence while he tried to take a quick throw before hauling down Chiquinho. This was merely a lack of common sense on Martinelli's part, no matter which way Arsenal try and spin it. Nothing more.

Yerson Mosquera hasn't contributed too much to Wolves since joining in 2021, yet somehow managed to avoid a red card on one of only five Premier League outings to date.

Not only did he walk away unpunished for appearing to choke Kai Havertz while the German was laying flat out on the turf, but he also managed to get Gabriel Jesus booked after fondling with the poor striker's backside too. A day without meaningful consequences either way, but crazy and curious still.

Arsenal's recent meeting with Brighton wasn't without controversy. William Saliba conceded a penalty after losing an aerial duel to Joao Pedro, brushing his head against the Brazilian's after the Seagulls forward nodded the ball on having flicked it off the floor.

Saliba did get a touch of the ball himself, but was deemed to have lost the challenge to a controlled play - rather than two players simply going for a header - and been second to it. Again, this kind of offence is seldom seen inside the 18-yard box, mostly because it's rare for such a challenge to take place at all.

The VAR check was swift and this would be a decision lost to time had it been involved in a standard Saturday 3pm kick-off, as annoying as that may seem to those in the red corner.

Poor Tomiyasu was in the wars when Arsenal went up to Goodison Park to face Everton late in 2021. With the scores 0-0 in a game that would finish 2-1 to the Toffees, the Japan international's face was trodden on by Ben Godfrey after losing the ball to Allan towards the touchline.

There wasn't much room for the oncoming Godfrey to move into, but given there have been plenty of reds dished out in recent times for far lesser offences, it's strange that this wasn't even subjected to an on-field review.

The start of the 2024-25 season aligned with Arsenal being widely credited with endeavours into football's 'dark arts', mainly involving time wasting and set-piece proficiency. It's why it was so ironic when Declan Rice saw red for seemingly stopping play from restarting during a 1-1 draw with Brighton.

Technically, yes, that's what happened. Joel Veltman wanted to take a free-kick near his own corner flag, only for the England midfielder to lightly tap the ball backwards. By this point, Veltman's run-up was in full swing and he ended up clattering Rice with his kick.

By the letter of the law, it's probably a bookable offence, and given Rice was already on a yellow after a crunching foul earlier in the game, he had to go. Except he didn't really have to go. The world wouldn't have ended had he not been handed another booking, and when the red was brandished, it was expected to be for Veltman given the ferocity of which he struck Rice.

Nevertheless, Rice was remorseful for his actions post-match: "I was shocked, I think you could see in my face I was shocked. He’s obviously gone over... I’ve not sprinted back in front of him and smashed the ball away. I’ve touched the ball with the outside of my foot. But look, this is the laws of the game. If you touch ball away, even a little bit, obviously it’s a red card after my challenge in the first half which I fully accept was a 50-50 that I didn’t win. But the second half one, especially with it being in the corner flag, they can't really progress anywhere from there. It was tough, it was harsh, but it's one of those things. I have to move on from it, I will be better for it and I can only praise the players for digging deep for me, and the manager for pushing everyone, and the fans as well who were unbelievable again this afternoon."

Another for the 'why was this one not a red card?' pile, Mateo Kovacic really ought to have been sent down the tunnel for this misgiving in Manchester City's trip to Arsenal in October 2023.

The Croatian scythed down the back of Rice's leg with unnecessary force after the ball had been passed on. Oliver was once more at the centre of attention, and PGMOL chief Howard Webb offered up a weak excuse to defend his colleague post-match: "He doesn't want to have a negative impact on the game by overreacting."

Fortunately for Arsenal, they prevailed 1-0 thanks to a late strike from Martinelli. This call would have been under a far more intense spotlight had they not won.

Only a few weeks after Rice's dismissal for kicking the ball away, Leandro Trossard followed suit in a crunch trip to then-title rivals Manchester City. Arsenal were on the cusp of heading into half-time 2-1 up, only for the Belgian to hoof the ball in the air shortly after referee Oliver had blown his whistle for a foul.

With Rice's red card fresh in the memory, the world knew what was about to happen in the seconds which followed. The main argument Trossard had in his favour was it being fairly conceivable he thought the whistle had gone to signal the end of the first half rather than a break in play. Tempers were already flaring, the Gunners were already on the path to slowing the game down.

Arteta's men held the fort for much of the second half, only to be breached with the last kick of the game, John Stones snatching an equaliser at the death.

Newcastle snapped Arsenal's unbeaten start to 2023-24 at the end of one of the most feisty Premier League encounters of the decade. Somehow, both sides finished the game with 11 players, despite Havertz and Bruno Guimaraes committing fouls which bordered on GBH.

But the most infamous moment came when Anthony Gordon poked home the winning goal, which survived three separate VAR checks. The first was to determine whether Joe Willock had kept the ball in on the far side of the pitch in the build-up, and given there was no camera angle available to provide conclusive evidence either way, the on-field decision remained.

The next was whether Joelinton had impeded Gabriel trying to win the header from the following cross. Given he had two arms on the back of his compatriot to prevent him jumping for the ball, there's a strong enough case to be made this is the defining reason for the goal to have been chalked off. The final check was for offside when Joelinton nods it back across for Gordon, who was in front of goalkeeper David Raya, but he was deemed onside.

It was this decision which proved the Oppenheimer-like outbreak for an increased bitterness towards referees. An outraged Arteta labelled it a 'disgrace' in his post-match interview, while Arsenal released a statement condemning the officiating and supporting their manager. Come off it, guys.

With Arsenal a goal to the good at Crystal Palace in August 2023, Takehiro Tomiyasu was shown a late red card in strange circumstances. He picked up a first booking for allegedly time wasting while taking a throw - in fact, it was Havertz who had run down the clock more holding the ball - before he was judged to have tugged back Jordan Ayew on the counter.

In theory, that would make sense, except Ayew simply collapsed under minimal contact from the Japanese defender, and seeing as this was a second-yellow offence, it couldn't be overturned by VAR nor on appeal, leaving the Gunners with the bitter taste of injustice in their mouths.

On this occasion, they were aggrieved to a totally understandable extent. Referee David Coote was way off the mark at Selhurst Park.

Officially, the Premier League have jotted down Myles Lewis-Skelly's red card at the weekend as 'serious foul play', with the young defender catching Matt Doherty on the ankle to stop a swift breakaway.

Let's be real - no matter which way you dress it up, it's a yellow-card offence. At worst it would be the proverbial orange or short-lived blue card. No one would have blinked an eye had the teenager been cautioned and given a stern talking to.

And that's why this can of worms has been opened again. That's why the visceral discourse is unfortunately flowing. Everyone - referees, players, managers, fans - needs to look in the mirror. We can't keep going on like this as some sort of culture war.