Myles Lewis-Skelly was taken off the field just 34 minutes into Arsenal’s impressive 7-1 Champions League victory over PSV.
The young defender was lucky to avoid being sent off in the match after committing two fouls that could have resulted in yellow cards during the first leg of the round of 16.
Lewis-Skelly, 18, received a yellow card in the 24th minute for a foul in his own half.
Just two minutes later, he was penalised again for a late challenge on Richard Ledezma.
PSV players appealed for Lewis-Skelly to be sent off, but referee Jesus Gil Manzano decided against issuing a second yellow card.
Arsenal then took a commanding three-goal lead thanks to goals from Jurrien Timber, Ethan Nwaneri and Mikel Merino.
After Merino’s goal, Mikel Arteta decided to substitute Lewis-Skelly.
Riccardo Calafiori, an Italian defender, replaced the young player.
Lewis-Skelly appeared disappointed as he sat on the bench to watch the rest of the game.
BBC pundit Alan Shearer supported the substitution, stating that keeping Lewis-Skelly on the field would have been a “risk”.
He commented: “Myles Lewis-Skelly was in a dangerous situation after just receiving a yellow card.
“If he hadn’t been booked moments earlier, that challenge certainly would have warranted one. Arsenal got lucky there.”
“It felt inevitable that a substitution was coming, and Riccardo Calafiori replaced Lewis-Skelly.
“With a comfortable three-goal lead, there was no need to risk playing with ten men. It was a sensible decision.”
Lewis-Skelly recently received a red card in Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham in the Premier League.
In that game, he was the last defender and brought down Mohammed Kudus, who was through on goal.
This followed a controversial red card decision against Wolves for a foul on Matt Doherty.
His three-match ban was later overturned, and Ref chief Howard Webb acknowledged that while the decision was incorrect, it wasn’t “horrendous”.
Meanwhile, PSV managed to reduce the deficit when Noa Lang scored a penalty before halftime.
However, any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed three minutes into the second half when Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard scored, extending Arsenal’s lead to 5-1.
Odegaard scored again in the 73rd minute, making it six for Arsenal.
Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly’s replacement, completed the scoring, securing Arsenal’s SEVENTH goal in the final moments of the match.
