Jarred Gillett actually made a big mistake in Tottenham 0-1 Arsenal that nobody is talking about - opinion
09/15/2024 12:45 PM
Arguably the main talking point from Sunday’s north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham involved Jurrien Timber.
The Netherlands international sparked a brawl between Arsenal and Tottenham players after leaving Pedro Porro in a heap on the turf, a challenge which only resulted in a yellow card.
While that call was the correct decision from Jarred Gillett, the 37-year-old actually missed another incident straight after which we believe should have resulted in a dismissal…
Why Jarred Gillet should have shown a red card in Tottenham 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal fans may recall Gabriel Martinelli receiving two yellow cards in one sequence of play during a 1-0 win against Wolves back in February 2022, and in our view, the same should have happened to Jurrien Timber in N17 on Sunday.
Just after the Dutchman left a sore one on Porro’s ankle – a challenge which rightly saw the Arsenal No.12 booked – he then ended up in an altercation with Guglielmo Vicario, grabbing the Italian by the collar.
Strangely, this incident only saw the Tottenham No.1 receive a yellow card, when usually, both players involved in a moment like this are booked, so it seemed as if Gillett decided to let Timber off the clash with Vicario, purely because he had already decided to punish him for fouling Porro.
Realistically, very few people could have argued against the 23-year-old being dismissed for that chaotic passage of play in the 35th minute.
On the topic of the South American, Mikel Arteta was actually left furious with Martinelli during the north London derby after squandering a great opportunity to score.
Swings and roundabouts
While Timber ought to have been sent off, Arsenal fans will argue that this was simply a case of events balancing themselves out after Martinelli’s strange dismissal back in 2022, which was in fact a very harsh call from Michael Oliver.
The Brazil international did deserve a yellow after attempting to stop Wolves from playing a quick throw in, although his second offence was simply a shoulder to shoulder, as you can see if you watched the footage above.
Therefore, Arteta will argue that his Arsenal side deserved this bit of good fortune in N17 on Sunday, when really, Gillett could have justifiably swung the north London derby firmly in Tottenham’s favour.
