Chelsea defender David Luiz was rightly given a straight red for his nasty challenge on Sead Kolasinac

  • Michael Oliver was spot on to brandish the red card to Chelsea's David Luiz
  • Luiz went flying in with his studs showing catching Sead Kolasinac on the ankle
  • The Arsenal defender was lucky not to be seriously injured from the challenge
  • Oliver was also right to book Luiz for his high and dangerous overhead kick
  • A red card would have harsh and it certainly differed to Sadio Mane's challenge

Referee Michael Oliver had a superb game at Stamford Bridge getting the biggest decision, to dismiss David Luiz after 87 minutes for serious foul play, absolutely right. 

Luiz went flying in to challenge Sead Kolasinac with his right foot up, studs showing catching the Arsenal man on the ankle. 

It looked like a nasty tackle with intent and Kolasinac was perhaps fortunate not to be seriously injured. 

Chelsea defender David Luiz was rightly given a straight red against Arsenal on Sunday

Chelsea defender David Luiz was rightly given a straight red against Arsenal on Sunday

Luiz was shown a straight red by referee Michael Oliver three minutes before the final whistle

Luiz was shown a straight red by referee Michael Oliver three minutes before the final whistle

Luiz went flying in to challenge Sead Kolasinac, who was lucky to come away unscathed

Luiz went flying in to challenge Sead Kolasinac, who was lucky to come away unscathed

The incident was right in front of the two technical areas which always inflames situations but Oliver was calm and decisive in making his decision. 


Earlier in the second half Luiz had been cautioned for a dangerous overhead kick inside the Arsenal penalty area. 

It was another of the high boot challenges which have hit the headlines over the past nine days. 

Oliver was also right to just caution Luiz for a high overhead kick inside Arsenal's penalty area

Oliver was also right to just caution Luiz for a high overhead kick inside Arsenal's penalty area

Luiz's challenge was not as intense as Sadio Mane's and didn't endanger the opponent like his

Luiz's challenge was not as intense as Sadio Mane's and didn't endanger the opponent like his

This one though was not as intense as that of Liverpool's Sadio Mane and certainly didn't endanger the opponent as Mane's did. 

Some decisions come down to gut instinct and this one was like that; not always easy to explain but a yellow card was the credible decision, although a straight red would have been harsh, but not necessarily wrong. 

Having already cautioned Luiz, Oliver could have taken the easy option after the Kolasinac challenge and shown a second yellow to dismiss the Brazilian defender but he knew the challenge was a nasty one which had to result in a straight red card. 

A very impressive refereeing display.