Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has defended Michael Oliver for not sending off Ruben Dias against Arsenal.
Manchester City had just gone 2-0 ahead against the Gunners in Wednesday's titanic Premier League title clash. Arsenal defender Ben White had the ball near the corner flag, with Dias challenging him in a physical battle which left the City star on the ground.
While on the floor, the Portugal international appeared to kick out into the back of White's knee. Oliver blew for a free-kick to Arsenal and showed Dias a yellow card, his third booking in the league of the season, though the Gunners felt he deserved a harsher punishment.
Video Assistant Referee David Coote checked the incident, but saw no reason to upgrade Dias' punishment to a red card. And Clattenburg, who was a Premier League referee for 13 years, also backed Oliver's decision.
Clattenburg revealed that Coote had likely been looking at how much force Dias had used in his kick at White. The former referee insisted there was little actual force from the defender and a booking was the right call.
"I think what they did is look for a potential red card. Did Ruben Dias use any force in the challenge with the kick out to Ben White? He didn’t, it was more of a petulant kick, and therefore the VAR was correct in identifying that it was a yellow card offence," he told BT Sport.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Ruben Dias have been sent off for his kick at Ben White? Comment below.
Dias played all 90 minutes at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night and was able to avoid picking up a second yellow card. He did see his side concede a late goal though, with Rob Holding scoring a consolation for the visitors.
By that point City had virtually secured a crucial three points in the title race. Kevin De Bruyne put them ahead after just seven minutes, breaking forward from midfield before firing low past Aaron Ramsdale.
Pep Guardiola's side doubled their lead just before half-time when John Stones headed in from De Bruyne's free-kick. That goal had to be checked by VAR before Coote was involved again to check the Dias-White incident.
De Bruyne scored his second of the evening nine minutes after the break when Erling Haaland squared a pass to him. And the Norwegian striker made sure of the win himself in stoppage time when he fired home.
Arsenal's frustrations boiled over after Oliver blew for full-time when White clashed with City substitute Phil Foden. They may have felt things would have turned out differently had Dias not stayed on the field.
