John Terry jumped to the defence of David Luiz after his red card in Arsenal’s defeat to Wolves and claims ‘anyone who has ever played the game’ will agree that he should have stayed on the field.
Arsenal appeared to be in control after Nicolas Pepe fired them in front with a superb solo effort in the first half but Luiz was sent off for bringing down Willian Jose and Ruben Neves scored with the resulting penalty.
After the break, Joao Moutinho fired Wolves in front with a long-range strike and Bernd Leno was also sent off after handling the ball outside his area with 18 minutes left in the game.
Wolves kept hold of the advantage to secure their first league win since their victory over Chelsea in December and Mikel Arteta confirmed the gunners may appeal referee Craig Pawson’s decision to send David Luiz off.
‘I’ve just seen the replay ten times in five different angles and I cannot see any contact,’ Arteta said at his post-match press conference.
‘If I’m sitting here now I would say yes [to an appeal]. We have to speak with legal at the club and see what the best thing is to do.
‘If there is any contact it’s him with David. I don’t know if they have a different angle to what they have or you have. Those big decisions are like that but it’s nothing I can change at the moment.
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‘It was a big decision and they can justify if they got it right then I put my hands up and apologise. ‘The only thing I’m saying is I’m sitting here and I cannot see any contact and it’s really frustrating because it’s a big moment in the game.’
Luiz’s former Chelsea teammate, John Terry, took to Instagram after Arsenal’s loss and claimed the decision to award Wolves a penalty was correct.
However, the ex-England skipper was adamant the Brazilian defender should have remained on the field as no attempt was made to play the ball.
‘Never a red card! Double jeopardy,’ Terry said in response to Sky Sports’ Instagram post about Luiz’s record of three red cards and six penalties conceded since moving to the Emirates.
‘Anyone who has ever played the game can see David never attempts to play the ball!!! ‘He actually pulls out of the challenge. Which means penalty but no red card.’
