IT’S AUBA AND OUT! Boss Arteta apologises for striker’s ‘nasty’ red-card
C PALACE 1 ARSENAL 1
MIKEL ARTETA said sorry to Crystal Palace after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw red for a dangerous tackle on Max Meyer.
Arsenal boss Arteta admitted Aubameyang’s lunge, which resulted in Meyer limping off, looked “nasty”, but refused to condemn the striker, who had given his side the lead.
The Gunners were pegged back by a fluke Jordan Ayew goal, which arrived out of the blue.
Then Aubameyang got his marching orders in the 67th minute, following a long VAR review. Arteta (below) said: “I have just watched it. It looked nasty, to be fair. Knowing Auba, there was no intention to make such a tackle.
“Hopefully, Meyer hasn’t been injured. We are sorry for that. As for the red card, we have to accept it.”
Aubameyang, whose opening goal was his 16th of the season, will miss Arsenal’s next three matches – including their trip to Chelsea.
Eagles boss Hodgson said: “Max is not happy. I knew at the time it was a bad challenge. The position of his ankle is not a pleasant thing to see. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some ligament damage there.
“I’m sure Aubameyang didn’t try to deliberately injure the player.
“But when I saw it after the game on the video, there’s no doubt it’s a red card.
“I’m surprised we had to wait so long for that decision to be taken.” Hodgson, in the grip of the worst injury crisis of his long career, claimed getting a result here would be even tougher than it was in Palace’s 2-2 draw at the Emirates in October.