Bernd Leno has been slammed by Rio Ferdinand after he earned a comical red card in Arsenal’s 2-1 loss to Wolves.
The German goalkeeper misjudged the flight of the ball and handled outside his area in the second half.
He was sent off instantly and reduced Arsenal to 9 men, leaving them with a mountain to climb, having already lost David Luiz to a red card just before halftime.
Ferdinand was on punditry duty on BT Sport and claimed that while Luiz’s sending off is still confusing, Leno simply has no excuse and his handling of the ball outside his area was comedic.
Ferdinand told BT Sport via the Metro: ‘We’re still quite confused about it but what we’ve learned is you’re better off just smashing the striker and you’ll probably get a booking.
‘But Leno, there are zero excuses for him.
‘He’s misjudged the bounce of the ball and from there, it’s just comedy.’
The German has now left Arsenal to rely on struggling Alex Runarsson as winter signing Mat Ryan is nursing an injury.
The Icelandic goalie hardly inspires confidence and kicked a pass straight to a corner when he came on after Leno’s sending off.
The next game without Leno will be tough ones for the Gunners.
Arsenal has plenty of fight and will bounce back
Leno made a mistake but should not be blamed much, I think he was under the pressure of a currupt referee who always have a bad thing to do to arsenal when ever he is officiating, arsenal should write to FIFA or English fa to stop him officiating arsenal games, remember’ he refused to red card mane when he elbowed Bellerin, he is just like that, how on each could any fair referee red card Luiz, even after using (VAR), if I was one of the players in that pitch I will punch him so mercilessly on his eyes so that he will never officiate again that is how bad his was, I wish that this comment will really really really get to those in charge of cases like this
AD PAT, HOW IS THIS POST, ADVOCATING PHYSICAL VIOLENCE AND CORRUPTION BY A REF, WITHOUT ANY REAL EVIDENCE, ALLOWED TO STAY ON HERE?
All this would not have happend if Luiz wasn’t unfairly sent off… Penalty & Yellow card, Defo yes, tour mans foot clipped David’s running knee. Accidental but the ref couldn’t wait to brand that Red card.
Leno made a huge error in judgement and that’s on him but all starts with the sending off of David Luiz which so going to be appealed.
Cost us the match that decision from the ref and Moss (VAR) not even looking properly at it and deemed it a red card.
I WILL GO EASY ON Leno for these reasons: HAD DAFT LUIZ BEEN IN POSITION AND NOT NEEDED TO CHASE BACK AND, ALBEIT, UNLUCKILY , GET RED CARDED, LENO WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN LEFT WITHOUT A DEFENDER THERE AND HIS HANDBALL WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED.
I believe in blaming the original miscreant, not the one who was thus put at a disadvantage.
SECONDLY, LENO DID WELL PRIOR TO THEN AND WE HAS ALMOST CETAINLY LOST ANYWAY BY THEN.
THIRDLY, LENO REMAINS A KEY PLAYER, WHILE LUIZ REMAINS SUB PAR AND WILL , MERCIFULLY, LEAVE THIS SUMMER.
So basically your usual bias nonsense where some get a free pass and others are crucified. ..great
@John Fox, In the First Place, Why do we start David Luiz in high stakes EPL matches??
Thought we had Gabriel and Pablo Mari!!..
Luiz is always going to get exploited by Teams with fast forwards such as Leceister, A.Villa, Fulham, Liverpool.etc.
It’s such a Pity, but with consistency (which would have started with a win against Wolves), we have a great chance of a Top 4 and UCL qualification.
But we re still stuck on mid-table, Still have to finish lower than Emery n Wenger!! We need more ambition!!💪💪
Super proud of the boys including Luiz and Leno. Poor officiating killed us. AGAIN!!! would a man Utd or Liverpool get the same treatment? I think not. Corruption eating deep into English FA. Little wonder why they’re not invited to the world cups and bigger tournaments. I expect English Arsenal fans to revolt against this and protest massively rather than turn on a player who saved our asses against utd because of his poor history. See how biased we can get.? We should fight this corruption in football Now. Or better yet get these refs to be accountable after the games. Get them interviewed. Let the world hear the conversations that go on between the ref and VAR officials like they do in cricket and other sports.
Great comments from everyone. Arsenal were playing the best 45 minutes of football in a long time before the refereeing debacle. VAR in English football is a joke. Back in Australia, a referee will go to a monitor to view his decision if asked to from upstairs. In my opinion, all of this, and it’s no different to all forms of body contact sports, spoils the flow of the game. Referees in the Premier League need to be accessed from game to game, and need to be made accountable in their decisions. In Australian Rugby League (silly bloody game), referees are scrutinized every game, and are demoted to refereeing under 18. It seems the referees in the Premier League are a protected species. No wonder why they are not welcomed to affiliate to referee or run a line in previous WORLD CUPS.