Exactly. If VAR can’t decide original decision of the ref should stand.

Ridiculous

Mind you, we should have been out of sight at half time - some poor finishing

those 2 points could be costly for us at the end of the season if we want a Europa spot.

Utterly ridiculous that Nketiah gets 3 game ban for that

Their gk made some good saves. At the time of the red 1-0 felt about right because Leicester were playing ok. Red totally changes it

Worse than that, the ref only looked at a replay from 1 angle and then took out the red. What did he think the VAR guys were reviewing? We've been shafted here.

Again

Thought that was a clear red - comes in with a straight leg, studs up and hits right below the knee. Intent doesn't matter there, it's serious foul play any day of the week. Didn't look like Vardy was offside, maybe if Perez touches the ball but that was impossible to see after 15 replays.

This wasn't on the ref or VAR. We dropped points because we didn't finish them off in the first half and our second wasn't good enough. It's a shame but we're still making excellent progress as a team and seem to be on the right track.

Oh *%^@ off redknapp it’s not a red

Wouldn’t expect any less from that thicko Ashley though. Can barely speak without the help of others. How the *%^@ he coped abroad I don’t know

I’d rather watch a live sex show starring my grandparents than watch Ashley Cole as a pundit.

What the hell goes through these broadcasters heads when they arrange their scheduling.

I'm with Hazuki on the red card. Even though there was no ill intent, Nketiah lunges in studs up and catches the bloke just below the knee so it has to be a red. I thought we were very impressive first half but we needed another goal as Leicester had threatened enough to show they were well in the game. Second half Leicester went up a gear and we went down one, but after the red card we were just holding on and they inevitably scored. Perhaps the disappointment we are all feeling after a battling draw is evidence of the improvement weve made under Arteta.

Think Sky pundits Redknapp and Cole miss the point of Vardy's goal. They slate Mustafi for not beating Vardy to the ball. Mustafi pushes up to hold the defensive line, its a good ball in, a great ball in, and one of the fastest forwards in the league is quicker over 5 yards than Mustafi - that's it. Were they slating the Leicester defence for not keeping up with Aubamayang when he tapped in the first half, should Leicester defence tracked the run and stayed goal side? Sometimes it is just good forward play

At half time Redknapp told us Evans was 'unlucky' when Saka turned him inside out for the first goal. Can you imagine if Luiz had been sat down like that for a Leicester goal.

Pundits have already made up their mind that certain players are liabilities and must be found at fault for goals, whereas others get a free ride

On reflection, their player made nothing of Eddie’s challenge. He certainly could have. If he’d rolled round for 5 minutes, most minds would’ve been made up a lot quicker.

Loved that interview from Arteta. Bang on. Then back to Redknapp to deny Vardy did it on purpose (which of course he *%^@*** did)

Why couldn't we get on top in the second half?

I thought at the time that Vardy took it as a bit of a free hit opportunity to swing a flailing leg round as he was falling.
If you take the position that Vardy’s boot flying in to Mustafi’s face was unintentional and and accident, you have to take the same view with Nketiah. Both ‘could’ have caused serious injury, both are dangerous but really neither are red cards. But Arteta is right to point out the absurdity of Nketiah’s red.

Disappointing. The red card obviously changed the game but I do think we missed some really good chances in the 1st half then took our foot off the pedal too much in the second half and Mustafi and Bellerin were caught ball watching for the Vardy goal.

I think we saw some positives tonight but also some of our limitations as well. Tierney,and Ceballos and Martinez were excellent but as soon as we went down to 10 men I thought Xhaka's lack of mobility was an issue, he simply can't get round the pitch quickly enough to cope with the extra man and it left us more exposed than perhaps we might have been with a more athletic player in there.

For me Mustafi and Xhaka have been very good since Arteta's arrival but I just don't think they are at the level to take us where we would like to be. If i was Arteta I'd move them both on and buy a better CB and a more mobile DM.

What f####king game was that muppet Rodgers watching. Just said they were the better team 11 v 11.
We should have been out of sight by half time.
Very frustrating to drop those 2 points.
I felt it would be a struggle to hold on once Eddie got sent off
It was slightly reckless but not a red.
F###king ridiculous decision.
Watching that vardy foot in the face for mustafi it looks like he knows exactly what he is doing.
Cant stand him. He always bloody scores against us. C###!

No injury and no trainer on the pitch but serious foul play and a 3 match ban

Vardy kicks Mustafi full in the face with a challenge that is the very definition of “out of control”; look at the stud marks on his face.

Compare and contrast.

Accidentally kick someone in the knee = evil thug straight red

Accidentally kick someone in the head= wasn’t on purpose that’s fine

But the situations aren't remotely the same. Vardy hits Mustafi in the face when rolling around after a bit of a tumble. That can easily be explained as being part of his natural movement, not easy to control exactly how you land after a fall. I'm not saying Vardy is completely innocent, but it's much harder to judge.

Nketiah putting his studs into the Leicester player is part of a challenge he makes for the ball. If you're going to make a challenge like that you need to make sure you get the ball, not the player.

I know a Saints player got a red against us last week but that was for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. Can anyone remember when the last red before that was and when the last one for serious foul play was?

But why does that apply to Eddie and not to Vardy?

Vardy was clearly challenging for the ball too.

I don’t think Vardy’s fall and leg swinging round were part of a natural movement at all, who really falls like that with a leg swinging out, no doubt in my mind he made sure he left something in there, didn’t mean to kick his face of course.
It’s not a red because you’d having to be giving reds by reading a players mind whether he intended it but Nketiah’s was never a red either.
I bet I can spot an identical tackle before the season is out or that has probably happened to us this season that won’t or wasn’t even reviewed

With Eddie banned he almost certainly starts the FA Cup semi v city. Does it mean Aubameyang playing some games at CF flanked by Saka and Pépé?
Does it mean a call up for Balogun to the bench, we don’t have any other strikers as martinelli is out and John-jules was on loan so not sure he can play

The ball had gone. He’s swinging his leg to specifically boot the Guy. Maybe not intentionally in the head. Arteta is right.

Vardy struck Mustafi as part of his fall, after a clean duel for the ball, so it's a very different challenge.

Basically, for me the difference is this: Vardy only deserves a red card if he deliberately kicked Mustafi. Nketiah deserves a red card whatever his intentions were.

You seem very certain Haz.

We’ve had 50 repeats of Eddie’s challenge but I’ve only seen Vardy’s once in replay. Nonetheless, I think I take a different view.

Evening all, I can see why Eddie got a red, I dont agree with it but I will say if Eddie had started the game and made that same challenge after the few mins he was on the pitch he would never have been sent off.

Vardy wasn't offside for the goal but Perez was and the ball clearly bounces off his foot onto the ground before Vardy scores.

For me, it is one point further from relegation. And that is positive for us. I am looking forward to a younger, more energetic and eager crop of players next season. Add a few matured and committed players to it. Come on Arsenal!

It’ll largely be the same players with maybe one or two new faces. I’m pretty sure there won’t be wholesale changes with many new players coming in.

I'm willing to struggle and find our footing if we go the young, dynamic players route. That type of squad needs a strong captain. Ajax I think went that route, the German national team did it several years ago to some extent.

(ages since goonerguru has been on here welcome back).

This challenge was only a yellow. There are hundreds of images all over the internet of tackles very similar to what Aubameyang was sent off for v Palace and none of them got a red

Consistency is awful even with VAR. Aubameyang got sent off for this tackle, the palace player (Cahill) didn’t. I’m damned if I can see the difference

I've reconsidered and agree it should have been no more for Eddie than a yellow. Ref and VAR missed so much today. Wonder why?

Saw another article about the players who've left Arsenal and won trophies, this one was Oxlade-Chamberlain. Whilst I think he would start in our midfield and he probably has improved as a central midfielder since he joined Liverpool is he really any better overall, or is he a player who has 1 fine game in 5 and struggles to hold down a starting 11 place. How much did Ox contribute to the title win? The reality is Liverpool could have signed Elneny instead of Ox and still won the title. There is something that is likeable about him as a player but he was and still is so inconsistent, and often injured - for me Arsenal still got the better end of a £40m deal

Just watched the game again. Disappointed we could not hold on. I think so mention has to be made of their goal with a ball that should never have got all the way across to Vardy. If it had happened under Emery everyone would be up in arms but hardly a word said. Luiz simply nowhere. Then a stupid foul a little later from Luiz where he could easily have been booked . Total liability.

I don't understand how we were so poor in the second half after a great first half. good teams hold on for 1-0. I think Arteta needs to look at why he didn't change tactics.

I thought Eddie was a sending off and a really stupid challenge. You can point to many others who have not been sent off but they should have been.

Spurs is a must win. No excuses.

And that's what I meant. We have a lot more younger players with promise now. Blood them in faster.

So far this season there has been a reluctance from refs to actually use the pitch-side monitor. Only on 2 occasions has the ref gone to his pitch side monitor for a red card decision. On both occasions the foul was upgraded to a straight red and on both occasions it was an Arsenal player.

Then there is the stat about on only 2 occasions has a player made 6 fouls or more in a game and not been booked, both times was against Arsenal.

I've noted plenty of times a penalty has been give against a team when a defender has pulled a player back who had a clear goalscoring opportunity (he's next action is a shot at a gk with no defenders in the way) and the defender was not sent off - Gomez v Sterling only last week the latest example. Luiz has been done twice for this this season.

It isn't necessarily that each of these decisions are wrong it is that we see time and time again the rules are not applied evenly.

I expect more of this when we play Spurs at the weekend. Fully expecting a dodgy spurs penalty which Kane will score, it happens every time we play them

In real time I thought the Nketiah foul was no more than a yellow. However, having seen the replays it's clear that whilst there was no intent to injure the opponent his studs were high and he catches the guy so it's probably a red.

It was one of those high risk/high reward situations. If Nketiah gets there a split second earlier he nicks the ball past the Leicester defender and he's away and everyone says what great play. He might even have been on the end of a red card challenge himself.

The fact is that he was a fraction late, his studs were high, he catches the defender and could have done him some serious damage.

A bit like an overhead kick in a crowded box......if you catch it perfectly and it flies in the top corner its great technique but if you miss the ball and smash someones face then it's reckless.

Morning socrates. It seems ironic that while lamenting Xhaka’s lack of mobility to the point that you still want to see him go, a far more likely midfield departure is Guendouzi who, considering the way he gets round the pitch and his energy, is surely our most mobile central midfielder. Some may want to use the word ‘arguably’ instead of surely, though I’m happy with the relevance of ‘surely’ here.

I believe Xhaka is most likely to stay because Arteta, like all his other managers, appears to love him. I don’t think any other conclusion looks feasible. Furthermore, another point that I feel supports my judgment that Guendouzi is the more likely departure is that according to reports he wants out. Also, I believe the clubs I’ve seen who reportedly want him, which in alphabetical order are Barcelona, Inter, Manchester United and PSG, makes it even easier to believe he’ll go.

As Guendouzi seems to be pushing to get away by not toeing Arteta’s line, why is that? I suspect it could be down to the following idea. He must know of someone he’d like to join who wants him. Players have their agents who work at getting players to clubs they’d like to join. That’s one of their tasks; it’s what happens. Guendouzi’s agent will have approached big clubs and/or received expressions of interest from them already. If the only clubs who wanted him were the French, Spanish or Italian versions of West Ham, or even lower Norwich, Guendouzi would I’m certain be working hard to impress Arteta. He would not be so keen on leaving. My guess is PSG are his most likely destination. He’s French, they’re a huge club, massively wealthy, and the interview with him in the Norwich programme left me in little or even no doubt he supported them.

Going back to Xhaka, I think you’re going to be disappointed. I reckon Arteta sees him as a long way from being a player he’d like to move on. Say Guendouzi does leave, is Ceballos the answer? He was very good last night, but to be brutally frank that was probably his best ever game in an Arsenal shirt. He’s been very inconsistent and I see him not being signed permanently or even not having his loan deal extended for next season as more likely than Xhaka going. I even reckon Torreira could be more likely to go than Xhaka, as there’s not been much to suggest he’s settled well in London.

Even if we look at things optimistically and we get Partey as a straight swap for Lacazette, will Guendouzi’s sale pay for a new forward to replace him? Maybe, but maybe not. Then you also mention how you still want Mustafi to go. To be replaced by who, as you don’t appear to rate any of Mari, Luiz and Holding either (I think I’ve seen you moan about them all). Upamecano would probably cost a fortune, and a damn site more than we’d get for Mustafi or Holding.

As our owner, I don’t think Stan will want to fund wholesale changes to the squad. That’s why I believe people should get used to not seeing a big turnaround in players before next season.