Mauricio Pochettino helped Lucas Torreira avoid further punishment by talking him out of confronting the match officials after his red card in Saturday’s north London derby.
The Arsenal midfielder was dismissed for a lunge at Tottenham defender Danny Rose in the final seconds of the 1-1 draw at Wembley.
Torreira waited in the tunnel to speak with referee Anthony Taylor but Pochettino intervened and Standard Sport can reveal that the Spurs boss warned him against making the situation worse during an exchange in Spanish.
Pochettino is understood to have sympathised with Torreira by telling him he could see his challenge on Rose was a genuine attempt to play the ball and advised him against taking out his anger on Taylor and his assistants.
The 47-year-old played down the conversation, claiming in his post-match press conference that he was “only saying hello and how are you” but in fact his intervention may have stopped Torreira from an even longer ban.
Arsenal were this morning weighing up whether there was any merit in appealing against the decision.
Given Taylor issued a straight red, Torreira would miss Sunday’s Premier League visit of Manchester United in addition to League games against Newcastle and Everton. He would not be available for a domestic fixture until the trip to Watford next month but is at least available for Thursday’s Europa League last 16, first-leg tie with Rennes.
Arsenal head coach Unai Emery believed Rose was fortunate to be on the pitch after a strong tackle of his own, on Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno. “I didn’t watch the footage for this, but it says to me one assistant can come with more of a sanction for Rose,” he said.
“But, I think on the TV, we can watch better these individual actions to make the best decision. But VAR is coming [to help referees' decisions].”
Although the match ended in frenetic fashion with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missing a stoppage-time penalty after Harry Kane’s spot-kick cancelled out Aaron Ramsey’s first-half opener, Emery will take heart from the composure his side showed, especially after making several big calls.
The Spaniard left Torreira, Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil on the bench while opting for a back four which seemed to surprise Spurs.
“Each match is different and we are playing with a back four and also with three centre-backs sometimes but I think the team is improving and is learning to play different systems,” Emery said.
“The reason when we are making changes to the system is adaptation to the opposition and also in our best combinations with the players.”
