Why Ndidi does not deserve a red card retired referee tells Arsenal supporters

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has provided the reasoning behind why Wilfred Ndidi was not booked for kicking the ball away during Arsenal's 4-2 victory over Leicester City this past weekend.

 Mikel Arteta's side has been victims of the very same ruling on multiple occasions this season, with Declan Rice being sent off against Brighton and more recently Leandro Trossard being shown his marching orders during the trip to Manchester City.

After the Foxes conceded a free-kick, Ndidi could be seen kicking the ball into touch. When asked on Sky Sports News why this didn't lead to a caution, ex-referee Gallagher gave an answer that failed to appease many of the Arsenal faithful.

During his appearance on Sky's weekly segment 'Ref Watch', Gallagher explained that the reason the Nigerian midfielder was not given a yellow card was that he did not prevent Arsenal from taking a free-kick. This is despite the fact he decided to kick the ball away from where the foul had taken place:

"He doesn't stop or delay the restart. There's no one there who can take a free-kick. Bukayo Saka's on the floor, can't take it. There's not an Arsenal player anywhere near it. If you want players yellow carded for that we're going to have a lot of players sat in the stands this season."

The 67-year-old's comments have unsurprisingly come in for some criticism, especially since it is a very different tone to his remarks following Rice's sending off earlier in the campaign. Following this incident, Gallagher was quoted as saying:

"The players were told at the start of the season that if you delay the restart, you run the risk [of a booking], it was quite clear. You think someone else should've got a yellow card, but that doesn't exonerate what he did.

"Two things don't help him. He knows what he's doing, and secondly the touchline - people say he didn't knock it very far, but he knocks it off the field so they definitely can't restart play. Chris Kavanagh has got nowhere to go. The second yellow is mandatory."

The consensus from Arsenal supporters online is that the inconsistency surrounding the implementation of the rules. One fan labeled it as 'disgusting hypocrisy,' while another added in response to Gallagher's verdict that 'you couldn't make it up.'

One supporter went one step further, saying: 'This is the final straw, I am officially lost for words.' It was also pointed out by several that the incident that saw Trossard clear the ball with an 'attempted pass' and get sent off at the Etihad, also saw Bernardo Silva on the deck and unable to take the free-kick he had been awarded.

However, images of the incident do show several Manchester City players nearby who could've done so, which may be where the situations differ.