MICHAEL OLIVER was still blowing his whistle when Leandro Trossard kicked the ball away, footage shows.
The Arsenal winger was shown a second yellow card for delaying the restart during his side’s draw with Manchester City.
Trossard had already been cautioned when he crashed into Bernardo Silva before booting the ball across the pitch.
The referee immediately brandished his red card to reduce the Gunners to 10 men on the stroke of half-time.
However, a new angle of the incident shows that the dismissal may have been a harsh one.
As Trossard pulls his leg back to kick the ball, Oliver can be seen holding the whistle in his mouth and signalling for a free-kick.
Reacting on social media, one fan wrote: “What’s crazier is that Trossard kicked the ball whilst Oliver was blowing the whistle.”
The Belgian’s dismissal forced the visitors to play the entire second half a man down.
He will also miss next Saturday’s home clash with Leicester through suspension.
Mikel Arteta’s side had been in front at the interval thanks to Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel’s first half strikes.
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They were unable to hold on, though, despite a string of fine saves from David Raya.
Substitute John Stones finally broke their resistance in the eighth minute of stoppage time by bundling the ball into the back of the net.
The draw maintains both side’s unbeaten starts to the new Premier League season.
It also extends Arsenal’s unbeaten streak against City to four matches.
Meanwhile, the point leaves the Gunners fourth in the table, two points behind their opponents in first place.
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