Arsenal star Jurrien Timber was not shown a red card in the north London derby against Tottenham because his challenge on Pedro Porro was not deemed ‘serious foul play’.
In a fierce first-half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, referee Jarrad Gillett dished out seven yellow cards – a new Premier League record.
Timber was shown one of those on 35 minutes but Tottenham players felt it should have been more for his challenge on Porro.
The Netherlands international planted his foot on the top of the ball as he made the challenge, catching Porro in the process. The foul sparked a brief melee among the two sides with Timber seeing squaring up with Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario before things calmed down.
Timber’s challenge on Porro was reviewed by VAR – but the on-field decision of a yellow card stood.
Sky Sports reported at half-time the VAR review decided the challenge was ‘reckless’ but ‘not serious foul play’.
Gary Neville meanwhile noted during the game: ‘Just hearing what has been fed into the VAR at Stockley Park. They said Timber puts his foot on the ball and it doesn’t roll over, which is what saved it from being a red card.’
Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie Redknapp felt Timber, starting his third game in a row at left-back, was lucky to stay on the pitch, feeling he could have easily been shown a straight red.
It also drew comparisons with an incident at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last season where Liverpool’s Curtis Jones was given his marching orders for a challenge on Yves Bissouma in similar circumstances.
‘He definitely goes over the ball,’ Redknapp said. ‘Usually you come with your side foot. His foot bounces on the ball.
‘There was a tackle here last year with Curtis Jones and Bissouma and Curtis Jones ended up getting sent off.
‘They are very similar. he is very lucky. Has he gone gone with excessive force to ‘do him’ like the old days? No, I don’t think so.
‘But he has given the ref a massive decision to make and I think he is incredibly lucky because other referees might send him off. He doesn’t need to go in like that. Has he caught him badly? No, but I think he is very lucky.’