Ex-referee 'has three doubts' over VAR intervention which led to William Saliba's red card for Arsenal in loss to Bournemouth

Arsenal had to play with 10 men for more than an hour on Saturday as they lost 2-0 to Bournemouth in a Premier League clash at the Vitality Stadium. Saliba was initially shown a yellow card for pulling back Bournemouth striker Evanilson as he looked to run through on goal. However, referee Rob Jones was sent to the monitor by VAR Jared Gillett and then produced a red card for the defender instead.

There have been contrasting views on the controversial decision, and now Halsey - who officiated in the Premier League for 14 years - has shared his opinion on the incident. The 63-year-old former match official raised three questions over the intervention of VAR after the on-field referee had taken a decision.

In his column for The Sun, the ex-referee wrote, "I had major doubts over William Saliba’s red card and would have stayed with referee Rob Jones’ on-field decision of a caution. The Arsenal defender fouled Bournemouth striker Evanilson but was it a clear and obvious error for VAR to intervene?

"It’s a subjective decision, so I didn’t think VAR Jarred Gillett needed to get involved. For the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, we look at four key criteria. And I had doubts over three of those.

"The distance between the offence and the goal was lengthy, the general direction of play saw the ball coming across Evanilson and not in front of him and also the location and number of defenders was questionable. The likelihood of him keeping or gaining control of the ball would have probably been in the favour of the Cherries forward because David Raya was back-pedalling towards his own goal."

After suffering their first defeat of the 2024/25 campaign, the Gunners will aim to bounce back this midweek as they take on Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday.