Arsenal legend Ian Wright has slammed the Gunners’ Ivorian winger Nicolas Pepe after he was shown a red card for violent conduct in the 0-0 draw away to Leeds.
The Gunners did well to pick up a point in an otherwise cagey affair despite Pepe’s moment of impetuousness. The 25-year-old was sent off after Anthony Taylor’s VAR review decreed that his headbutt on Leeds’ Ezgjan Alioski warranted a red card.
Pepe’s follow-through removed any ambiguity from the action and led to an decisive call from the officials.
Wright did not mince his words in condemning the Ivorian over the incident, with the £72m club-record signing now facing a spell out for three games with suspension.
He told Premier League Productions [via The Mirror]: “I’m not saying that it’s a proper full-on headbutt but you can’t do that to people in this day and age. You can’t get into people’s faces like that.
“Alioski has gone down like he’s really got a proper headbutt but at the same time that’s just totally unprofessional and just poor from him.”
Mikel Arteta offered a rare lifeline to the winger as he opted to include Pepe following the winger’s recent comments over a lack of playing time. Needless to say, the manager’s faith was not repaid.
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Pepe did not cover himself in glory and his impact at Elland Road was minimal beyond his violent outburst, having failed to get a shot on target.
Expect Pepe to be out for longer than just his obligatory three games given the recklessness of his indiscretion yesterday.
