Fans baffled as Mateo Kovacic somehow avoids first half red card

'How the hell is Kovacic still on the pitch?'

In a first half that lacked quality at the Emirates Stadium, Kovacic was the main talking point after two rashly timed tackles on the pitch.

The first of those was an extremely late tackle on Martin Odegaard that saw the Croatian leave the ground studs up into the back of the leg of the Gunners captain.

Referee Michael Oliver handed out a yellow card and following a VAR check, they agreed with the on-field decision,

Moments later and Kovacic was at it again as he caught Declan Rice with a late challenge but Oliver waved on for play to continue, despite mass protests from everyone affiliated to Arsenal.

Fans took to social media to react and couldn't believe that Pep Guardiola's side weren't down to 10.

"How the hell is Kovacic still on the pitch? Two horrendous fouls in 5 minutes. Abysmal refereeing," said Piers Morgan.

"Yes, that should have been a red card for Kovacic," said a second.

A third posted: "Kovacic shouldn’t be on the pitch after second tackle, that’s a second yellow card all day, it will be so unfair if he ends up scoring the winning goal, the uproar will be insane. The refs are destroying the game already.

"That’s an easy red card, Arsenal being robbed," wrote a fourth.

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