Merino should have been sent off against Villa, panel says
- Published
Mikel Merino should have received a second yellow card in Arsenal's 4-1 win at home to Aston Villa on 30 December, the Premier League's Key Match Incidents Panel has said.
The Gunners were leading 2-0 in the 58th minute when Merino pulled back Morgan Rogers.
Referee Darren England opted not to book the Spain international, meaning he escaped a red card.
The panel said, on a unanimous 5-0 vote, that Merino "clearly stopped a promising attack, by pulling the arm of Rogers, and a second caution should have been awarded".
The video assistant referee (VAR) is unable to intervene on second yellow cards.
The KMI Panel's rulings for the first half of the campaign show Mikel Arteta's side benefited from one VAR error. Everton should have been given a penalty in Arsenal's 1-0 win at Hill Dickinson Stadium last month.
The Gunners did not suffer any VAR mistakes.
Aston Villa have no logged VAR errors for or against them so far this season.
