It was the key moment of the match as Ainsley Maitland-Niles saw red in Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat against Leicester City yesterday (Sunday).
The Arsenal man was sent off with the score at 0-0 for a second bookable offence, after challenging James Maddison on the halfway line, following a loose touch.
But while some pundits have criticised the Leicester City man for his reaction to the challenge amid accusations that he got Maitland-Niles sent off, Maddison has said he felt the right decision was made by referee Michael Oliver.
“He [Maitland-Niles] has obviously dived in on the halfway line, and I managed to send Vards [Jamie Vardy] away,” he said, speaking to BBC programme Match of the Day 2.
“If I have to jump out of the way, I don’t think you can tackle like that to be honest, so I think it was right to show the yellow card.”
However, former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said he felt that Maitland-Niles was “very unlucky” to be sent off.
“I am not sure this is a yellow card – sometimes you get them and sometimes you don’t,” he said when analysing the first yellow card shown to the Arsenal man.
“But the next one, Maddison has stitched him up. He can say what he likes. He is a wonderfully gifted player, and he is destined for a big future, but the stitching up of another player is something I didn’t do. It never came to my mind.
Former referee gives verdict on Ainsley Maitland-Niles' red card in Arsenal's loss at Leicester
“But he [Maitland-Niles] doesn’t touch him. Earlier in the season he [Maddison] got done for it [when being shown a second yellow card for a perceived dive against Brighton], he apologised and said he would learn from it, but he has not.
“It’s out of order, I don’t like seeing it and I can’t defend him. I felt for Maitland-Niles, although he took that too well. If someone had done that to me, and I knew them, I would be fuming.”
What Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles said to James Maddison after red card at Leicester
But Murphy’s fellow pundit Alan Shearer said he could understand why referee Michael Oliver had made the decision to send him off.
“It is a difficult decision for the referee and I understand why he has given the second yellow,” he said.
Sky Sports pundits deliver verdict on Ainsley Maitland Niles' red card in defeat at Leicester
“But when you look at it closely, he hasn’t touched him at all and he [Maddison] is rolling over and pretending to be in agony there when he [Maitland-Niles] hasn’t touched him.”
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