“He was lucky”: Former PL referee reacts to Wesley Fofana’s “deliberate” stamp on Declan Rice | OneFootball

Former Premier League referee Jeff Winter has said that Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana was lucky to avoid a booking after a deliberate stamp on Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice.

The Gunners returned to winning ways with a 1-0 Premier League win over the Blues on Sunday. Mikel Merino scored the winner with a headed goal in the 20th minute.

Barring one nervous moment from goalkeeper David Raya, Arsenal controlled the game. They could have won by a bigger margin if Leandro Trossard had finished better.

Meanwhile, the derby had many other talking points. One of those was around Fofana, who avoided a potential sending-off after a deliberate stamp on the back of Rice.

VAR went with referee Chris Kavanagh’s decision, but speaking to Grosvenor Sport, Winter said that Fofana was ‘very lucky’ as his action on Rice seemed ‘deliberate’.

He said: “As for the Fofana incident, he stood on a player who was lying on the floor and escaped punishment.

“To be quite honest, I thought he was very lucky because it appeared that he knew exactly what he was doing.

“There was no force—he just sort of placed his foot on Rice—but you could tell by the look on his face that it was deliberate. We can see that on television, but maybe the referee didn’t.

“So, I do think Fofana was lucky to avoid further action.”

Fofana committed several fouls throughout the London derby. He was eventually booked for trying to slow down play during a throw-in. Kavanagh was lenient on the Frenchman.

On another other day, the 24-year-old could have received his marching orders early. It did not matter in the end, as Arsenal registered their first victory in four top-flight matches.

Arsenal also continued their dominance over the Blues with their fifth win in seven meetings. They have not lost a league match against their London counterparts since August 2021.

The Gunners are 12 points behind league leaders Liverpool with nine games left in the season.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com