Brighton are playing Arsenal and the ball is in the air. Brighton’s Ezequiel Schelotto chases it. So does Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac.
We’ve seen it countless times. It looks like a classic 50-50. Schelotto, eyes fixated on the ball and poised to control it, doesn’t see a rampaging Kolasinac coming his way.
Like a raging bull, the brawny Bosnian clatters into Schelotto, leaving the Italian in a heap on the floor. Leading with his shoulder, Kolasinac goes straight through the right-back. It’s a massive blow to the head. It’s also dangerous play.
Although Schelotto had his eyes on the ball, Kolasinac had a clear view of where the Brighton man was. Despite that, he led with his shoulder and utterly levelled him, as you can see from the images below.
Unsurprisingly, Schelotto was unable to continue. Medics confirmed that the 28-year-old temporarily lost consciousness. Luckily, he was able to take his place on the bench after going off.
While we can’t definitively claim malice on Kolasinac’s part, it was a hugely careless and reckless challenge. The 24-year-old has been playing professional football to know better. In fairness to him, he realised his lapse in judgement immediately and made sure to check how Schelotto was doing.
However, the villain of this particular piece is the referee, Stuart Attwell. With Kolasinac already on a yellow card, he should have given the Arsenal man his marching orders. It’s perhaps something VAR would have picked up on but technology should not be required for such a blatant foul. It’s incidents like these that give ammunition to the critics of referees.
As you can imagine, it sparked a strong response on Twitter, with even Arsenal fans admitting that he should have been punished.
Kolasinac takes out Schelotto.
Not a yellow apparently 😕. #BHAARS
📸: @PA pic.twitter.com/6Mk65hgHDV
— Johnny Goldsmith (@MirrorJohnny) March 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/Kieran3williams/status/970315471999438848
Even as an #Arsenal fan I can’t believe Kolasinac didn’t get booked on that one.
— Paris Christodoulidis (@kellerman4prez) March 4, 2018
English officiating is becoming suspect by the day…
How is Kolasinac still on that field?
And then this is after you give a yellow card to Stephens for a non-existent foul?#BHAARS
— #Chiquitita (@brunoegwumba) March 4, 2018
Kolasinac… pic.twitter.com/WARZc8NPNr
— Oliver (@ORodge20) March 4, 2018
Kolasinac tried to win a header by putting his shoulder through Schelotto's face. Seen second yellows given for a lot less. Not even a foul!
— James Tyler (still) (@JamesTylerESPN) March 4, 2018
