Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka is set to face a three match ban after receiving a red card in Saturday’s Premier League encounter with Swansea City.
Arsenal were desperate to hold on to their lead against Swansea and Xhaka was shown the red after a serious foul on Swansea’s Mo Barrow.
Most of the spectators present at the Emirates expected Xhaka to receive a yellow card after tackling Barrow from behind.
However, referee Jon Moss branded the tackle as a serious offense and immediately showed Xhaka the red card – concluding that the Swiss midfielder had deliberately kicked his opponent rather than hacking him down to the ground.
The referee branded the challenge as a serious offense and the direct red card now means that Xhaka will face an automatic three match ban.
Arsenal will be without the services of Xhaka in the upcoming Premier League encounters against Middlesbrough and Sunderland and also the EFL Cup clash with Reading.
Arsenal would now rest their hopes upon defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin, who recently returned from an injury.
Walcott scored a brace followed by Ozil’s volley to score the third for Arsenal. Swansea came back strong into the game with goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Borja Baston. Bob Bradley’s side lacked the finishing during the final minutes and failed to clinch the much needed equaliser as the Gunners bagged all the three points with a 3-2 win over the Swans.
Wenger insisted that Xhaka’s sending off was harsh but he made it clear that the club would not launch an appeal and asserted that the Swiss midfielder needs to learn from his mistakes.
Wenger said: “It looked a harsh decision, more like a dark yellow – but then the red showed a bright red.
“There has to be an intelligence when you are making challenges though.”
“I haven’t spoken to him before about his discipline before her signed, if you look some of his challenges are maybe a little clumsy because he is a player that likes to attack.”
“But I will speak to him now, he has to learn from it.”