What Leandro Trossard told teammates in Arsenal dressing room after controversial red card
Leandro Trossard has already sent a clear message to his Arsenal teammates following his controversial sending off against Manchester City at Etihad Stadium. The Belgium international was shown two yellow cards in the space of 18 first-half minutes leaving Mikel Arteta's side with a man disadvantage against the Premier League champions.
At the time of his sending off, the Gunners were actually in front after Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel both scored to cancel out Erling Haaland's early opener. However, with just a few seconds of the opening period remaining, Trossard fouled Bernardo Silva and proceeded to kick the ball away.
Referee Michael Oliver appeared to have no issues with the foul but as the offence was committed just outside the box with City ready to get going again, it was deemed that Trossard had delayed the restart and was thus sent off for his second bookable offence having already prevented a counter-attack led by Savinho.
The visitors subsequently faced a barrage of attacks in the second half and it looked as though Trossard's dismissal was not going to impact Mikel Arteta's side. However, substitute John Stones found himself in the right place at the right time to sweep home a penalty box scramble with minutes to spare.
Though taking a point off Man City is an excellent result, Arsenal were so close to all three and that would've had huge title ramifications. With those in the away dressing room undoubtedly disappointed at full time, exactly what Trossard said in that area just 45 minutes earlier has now seemingly been revealed.
According to the Mirror, the 29-year-old admitted to his teammates that he did not hear the whistle and was actually trying to play a pass. It also said that he tried to explain this to referee Oliver, but he was still shown his marching orders.
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In his post-match press conference, Arteta was asked about the incident, with it being the second time in just three weeks he has seen one of his players sent off for delaying the restart, and it soon became clear he was far from pleased. "I prefer not to comment," he admitted.
"I've seen it and it's that obvious so I'll leave it to you guys. I was already in big trouble trying to solve what happened on the pitch. It's not my problem to solve what happens off the pitch."