Piers Morgan unleashes furious Michael Oliver rant after controversial Arsenal moment vs Man City
Piers Morgan has slammed Michael Oliver's performance in Arsenal's 2-2 Premier League draw with Manchester City, claiming the referee ruined the spectacle between two good teams.
The Gunners were moments away from sealing a vital win over their title rivals at the Etihad Stadium after going 2-1 ahead in the first-half. John Stones bundled home a late leveller for City after Arsenal defended superbly well with 10 men.
Leandro Trossard was sent off for two bookable offences in the first 45 minutes. The forward was shown a second yellow card on the stroke of half-time for kicking the ball away, a similar incident to Declan Rice's dismissal against Brighton.
Mikel Arteta pointed out the inconsistencies of Oliver's decision-making after Jeremy Doku escaped a booking for delaying play by kicking the ball away. The red card has split opinion in the aftermath of the game and Morgan has insisted the contest was ruined.
"We were battering them in the first-half then, through ridiculous double standards from the referee, again, one of our players gets sent off for something that one of the opposition has done," he said on talkSPORT. "That completely ruined the game, but it didn't ruin the spirit of the Arsenal players."
He added: "The Rice one was utterly ridiculous. This one, I've watched it a few times, the referee is blowing that whistle almost as Trossard is kicking the ball. There's no proof that he was kicking it away and not passing. How do you know he wasn't passing the ball?"
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On X, formerly Twitter, Morgan took a swipe at Oliver's performance after he sent off Trossard. He said: "The supposed 'Best referee in the Premier League' has wrecked what was a thrilling game of football, sacrificing it at the altar of pedantic b******. Thank you, Mr Oliver!"
He added: "Arsenal were the moral winners. Magnificent performance against 12-man City whose MoM was Michael Oliver."