Francis Coquelin should have been sent off before being substituted in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace, claimed Alan Pardew.
Arsenal’s defensive anchorman was withdrawn on 60 minutes after being given a final warning by Lee Mason, having committed several niggly fouls. The midfielder narrowly avoided a second booking just four minutes after his first, as he deliberately clipped a fast-breaking Wilfried Zaha on the stroke of half-time.
Coquelin then gave away another careless free-kick after diving in from behind James McArthur. Arsene Wenger swiftly replaced the 24-year-old with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as boos echoed around Selhurst Park.
Pardew agreed with Palace supporters, feeling that his final foul should have resulted in his dismissal.
The Palace manager said: “I had a chat with Lee [Mason] in the tunnel and he said, ‘You agree with me that he shouldn’t have gone off at half-time?’ and I did. But I did say to you, ‘that’s his last-chance, he can’t afford to make another challenge.’ Everybody in the stadium knew that.
“And he did. Unfortunately the referee didn’t make the call. He should have sent him off.”
He certainly agreed with Wenger’s decision to remove his midfield anchorman, adding: “Our bench thought he should have gone. Their bench thought he should have gone.
“It was a completely natural decision that I would have made.”
Though the manager felt aggrieved at having to play against 11 men throughout the match he was convinced that there is plenty more to come from a Palace side that caused Arsenal plenty of headaches when attacking.
“The margins were quite tight today, as well as Arsenal played. My real exuberant players, like Wilf [Zaha] and Yala [Bolasie] just aren’t quite there yet, physically. When they get up to speed, we’re going to be better than we were today.
“But there were some great signs today, I thought Yohan Cabaye was terrific, Papa Souare, the goalkeeper, Connor Wickham. And they’re all relatively new players. With the players that have been here through promotion there’s real confidence here.
“It’s now about picking the best XI and that won’t be easy. I’ve got a lot of choice.”
