Arsenal starlet made to wait 70 seconds by fourth official to enter pitch over bizarre reason – leading Mikel Arteta to step in
Today at 09:32 AM
Arsenal were briefly forced to play with ten men once again after Myles Lewis-Skelly’s substitute appearance was unexpectedly delayed.
The Gunners secured their second Champions League win of the season with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk, courtesy of a first-half own goal from goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk.
It proved to be a far from straight-forward clash on Tuesday night, with Leandro Trossard missing a penalty in the second half, before Riccardo Calafiori was forced off with an injury on 72 minutes.
The Italian defender was unable to continue after his knee turned inward when slipping over on the pitch.
In his place came Lewis-Skelly, but his introduction to the match was delayed by 70 seconds in bizarre fashion.
The 18-year-old found himself held up on the sidelines as the fourth official insisted that he remove the earring in his left ear before taking to the field.
With Calafiori having already limped off, this left Arsenal down to ten men for a brief period.
Clearly in a rush to make up the numbers for his side, Lewis-Skelly looked unhappy with the match official, as he raised his hands in the air to question the rule, with Arteta even stepping in to discuss the issue.
Ultimately, the youngster was able to enter the pitch just over a minute later after frantically trying to remove the piece of jewellery.
Fortunately for Arteta’s side, Shakhtar failed to make their man advantage count during this time, and they went on to see out the win with Lewis-Skelly’s help.
But it was the academy graduate’s struggle at getting onto the pitch which caught the eye of fans online afterwards.
One person observed: “Myles Lewis-Skelly trying to come on for Arsenal with a brand new earring taped over. 4th official not having it."
Meanwhile, a supporter joked that the delayed substitution was a deliberate attempt to make the Gunners play with ten men, who have now been shown three red cards this season.
They wrote: “Any excuse to make us play with ten men ffs.”
A third then joked: “This guy thinks a plaster cuts it in the UCL, brother this is not Hackney marshes.”
This was not the first time the England Under-19 international’s antics have caught the eye of fans online.
Lewis-Skelly received a yellow card before even making his first senior appearance, as he was booked whilst warming up on the sidelines in Arsenal’s heated 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
After getting onto the pitch, he was then involved in an altercation with City goal-machine Erling Haaland following the full-time whistle.
And fans may well be seeing more of the fearless youngster in their next fixture against league leaders Liverpool, as Arteta later revealed that he was unsure of the extent of Calafiori’s knee issue.
Speaking after the match, he said: “With Riccy, he had to come off because he felt something.
“I don’t know the extent of it but it’s not good news.”
Injury to the £34million summer signing means that the Gunners could be without five key players for Saturday’s crunch clash.
Captain Martin Odegaard remains out with an ankle injury, while centre-back William Saliba is suspended after picking up a red card in the 2-0 loss to Bournemouth last weekend.
It remains unclear whether winger Bukayo Saka will be fit after sustaining a hamstring injury whilst on international duty with England.
Elsewhere, Jurrien Timber is also a concern having missed Arsenal’s last three games.
