Sky Sports respond to claims Howard Webb told referee to send off William Saliba | Football

Saliba was shown a red card at the Vitality Stadium after tangling up with Evanilson and bringing the Bournemouth striker down as he went to race through on goal.

Referee Robert Jones initially showed Saliba a yellow but was advised to consult the pitchside monitor by the Video Assistant Referee and proceeded to upgrade the yellow to a red.

Arsenal felt aggrieved by the decision, which came inside the opening half an hour, as the incident occurred just inside their half but their former player Theo Walcott and ex-England midfielder Jamie Redknapp both believe a red was the correct decision.

Many Arsenal fans also questioned if Webb influenced the decision from the stands as the referee chief was seen texting and talking on his phone as VAR checked the incident.

‘What we understand is he’s listening to a match feed of the VAR officials and their communication with the on-field officials, just as we do as broadcasters,’ Jones said.

‘He has no input, no ability to talk to the officials. Just to clear that up for you.’

Sky Sports pundit Redknapp, meanwhile, said: ‘Howard Webb is not trying to communicate with the officials from the stands.

‘He’s watching the game. Anyone who thinks that, to have the audacity, or ego, to think “I am going to influence the game”, we’re talking nonsense now to even question that.

‘He is at the game and listening to the audio. But he can’t turn round to the referee. We’ve got VAR and everyone there looking at it why would he even dream to get involved?’

On Saliba’s red card, Redknapp added: ‘There’s absolutely no doubt if he had no put his arms on him, he [William Saliba] would have got there first.

‘He is one of the quickest players, one of the quickest defenders. He would have at least had enough pace to get help.

‘Your natural inclination is to panic, grab him and he’s thinking “what have I done?” Then Gabriel went to the referee and there’s a few guilty signs.

‘It’s definitely a foul. Ben White you could argue, can he get back in time, but my guess is no. It was definitely denying a goalscoring opportunity.’

Arsenal attempted to grind out a result after going down to 10 men but second-half goals from Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert condemned the Gunners to their first defeat of the season.

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