Alexandre Lacazette leads Arsenal revolt against refereeing as Granit Xhaka injustice is exposed

The focus on Saturday’s early victory saw Arsenal face several lines of narrative regarding their celebrations, top four implications and reaction to tackles and yellow cards of their own. The 1-0 away win at Villa Park was a hard-fought three points but was soured by a continuation of poor officiating from referees.

The officiating of Arsenal’s matches has become an infuriating fiasco for Gunners supporters. Penalties not being given, red cards not brandished to rival players for equal challenges that have seen Arsenal players sent off for similar actions and behaviour profiling of the team.

Granit Xhaka has faced this more than most. The Swiss international has been sent off on numerous occasions, twice this season already. However, the weekend witnessed referee Bobby Madley give Xhaka a yellow card pointing to the reasoning being three challenges accumulating to the sanction.

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The issue here was that Xhaka had not made a foul up until this point. What Madley was suggesting simply was not true.

Awaiting further clarification, Arsenal fans watched Sky Sports’ referee watch show in which former Premier League official Dermot Gallagher stunned onlookers with a perplexing justification.

"It was not just for that, it was one that had been coming", says Dermot Gallagher. “So I think that’s why he gets it. It’s not that he is being picked on.”

Again, the suggestion here is that Xhaka had somehow accumulated enough actions to deserve the yellow. This despite the fact he had yet to make a foul before being sanctioned.

The Arsenal