'It has to be' - expert verdict on Mateo Kovacic tackle controversy in Man City vs Arsenal game

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher felt Mateo Kovacic should have seen red for his two fouls in quick succession during Manchester City's Premier League defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.

The midfielder was booked for a late tackle on Martin Odegaard, which some felt could have been a straight red card, before escaping further punishment when he fouled Declan Rice a little over six minutes later.

Both incidents came in the first half of a contest City lost late on when Gabriel Martinelli scored a winner for the home side. But, speaking on Sky Sports Ref Watch, Gallagher said Pep Guardiola's side were fortunate to keep 11 men on the pitch.

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Speaking as to whether challenge on Arsenal captain Odegaard could have been a straight red, Gallagher said: "Some people say yes, I think it is on the cusp and I think he is really lucky. He could have gone on another day.

"That said, if it is that close to being a red card then when you make the second challenge minutes later. Once you have made a tackle like the first one, you have escaped, you are so much on the edge, you make the second tackle and the accumulation of both for me has got to be a red card.

"What I will say in Michael [Oliver's] defence is he was clear in his mind in the decision he had made, he probably felt that not every second challenge is a booking, whether he has taken that into account. . . I think together it has to be a red card."

VAR did not intervene on the second challenge because the tackle was not worthy of a straight red card and the team at Stockley Park cannot intervene to upgrade fouls to bookings.

"It has to be a red card in its own