The striker was shown a straight red card in the second half of his side’s 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday
Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has expressed his remorse after a studs-up challenge on Crystal Palace‘s Max Meyer saw the Gunners star shown a red card on Saturday.
With Saturday’s Premier League match tied 1-1 in the second half, Aubameyang went in hard for a challenge on the German near the touchline.
Aubameyang was shown a yellow card but the play was then sent for a review by video assistant referee Craig Pawson, as it was deemed a potential red.
After the VAR check, it was determined that the Gabon star’s tackle met the standard of serious foul play and he was given his marching orders.
A statement released by officials said: “VAR looked at the incident & determined that the point of contact & the intensity of the challenge endangered the safety of the opponent and recommended upgrading the yellow card to a red card for serious foul play.”
Meyer had to be removed from the game, which would go on to finish 1-1 after goals from Aubameyang and Jordan Ayew.
Aubameyang is now likely to be suspended for three matches unless the Gunners are able to launch a successful appeal against the red card.
That appears unlikely due to the rough nature of Aubameyang’s challenge on Meyer, which the Arsenal captain acknowledged himself in a post on Instagram after the game.
“Hopefully Max Meyer gets well soon,” the striker said. “I really didn’t want to challenge him so hard and I appreciate that the boys fought hard to take that win, but unfortunately we come back with a draw. We keep going.”
Should Aubameyang be forced to miss Arsenal’s next three matches, he will sit out Premier League games against Sheffield United and Chelsea, as well as an FA Cup fourth-round tie at Bournemouth.
That will be a major blow for the Gunners as they look to turn things around under new manager Mikel Arteta, with Aubameyang tied for second in the Premier League scoring charts, having netted 14 goals.
With the point on Saturday, Arsenal are in 10th place in the Premier League table, 11 points behind Chelsea who occupy the fourth and final Champions League position.
Be the first to comment