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Arsenal fans have conspiracy theory over Michael Oliver and Man City after Mateo Kovacic controversy

Arsenal fans have conspiracy theory over Michael Oliver and Man City after Mateo Kovacic controversy

Mateo Kovacic was lucky to escape a red card against Arsenal.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

Arsenal fans have come up with a conspiracy theory as to why Michael Oliver did NOT send off Mateo Kovacic.

The Gunners beat Manchester City 1-0 as they claimed their first Premier League win over them since 2015.

Gabriel Martinelli scored the only goal of the game as Mikel Arteta's side remain unbeaten in the league this season.

Despite Arsenal securing a big victory over their domestic rivals, fans online were left furious with match referee Oliver for failing to brandish a second yellow card to Kovacic after his reckless challenge on Declan Rice.

The Man City midfielder, who joined the club from Chelsea during the summer, had just been cautioned after a crunching tackle on Martin Odegaard.

Oliver, however, did not send off Kovacic in what looked like a clear bookable offence.

Arsenal fans have since come up with a theory as to why the Croatian wasn't shown a red card.

Oliver recently took charge of a UAE Pro League game between Al Ain and Sharjah.

He was on the payroll of another league, with close links to the ownership of Man City.

Sheikh Mansour, vice-president and deputy prime minister of UAE, owns Man City, with Arsenal fans citing a 'conflict of interest' regarding Oliver officiating the Blues' game.




One X user wrote: "Yes, we won the game, but we shouldn't let this go. Would have been a very different story had we dropped points. @FA_PGMOL."

A second sarcastically tweeted: "Nothing to see here eh? What an absolute farce."

A third added: "That is absolutely rancid. How on earth is this allowed. Such an obvious conflict of interest."

A fourth said: "Is this not a conflict of interest? Aren't Premier League referees contracted to the EPL, therefore taking other paid work is a breach of contract?"

Another commented: "Even if there is no corruption, the aesthetics of this are pretty bad but then again it seems the FA, Premier League and PGMOL are somehow immune to transparency."

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Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports/Premier League/Getty

Topics: Arsenal, Fan Reactions, Manchester City, Football

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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@NasJabbar