TalkSPORT pundit Perry Groves has had a go at Arsenal star Fabio Vieira after he got himself a red card for a Patrick Vieira-like challenge against Burnley today.
The Gunners were the dominant side for large parts of the game and deservedly picked up the win. Goals from Leandro Trossard, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko sealed the win, despite Vieira’s ‘silly’ sending-off.
Arsenal’s Fabio Vieira compared to Patrick Vieira after red card vs Burnley
Arsenal signed Fabio Vieira from Porto for £34 million last year (Sky Sports).
The 23-year-old is a hugely talented player. He’s good on the ball, has great vision and also the ability to create and score goals. He’s brilliant in games where he has a lot of space to work with.
The one thing Vieira isn’t really good at, despite sharing his last name with the great Patrick Vieira, is strong challenges to win the ball back.
In the game against Burnley today when Arsenal were in complete control, Vieira caught Josh Brownhill high on his knee while attempting to control the ball.
It was one of those cases where it looks a lot worse in slow motion and in still images than it actually was, but Vieira deserved the red card and referee Michael Oliver got the decision right.
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Speaking about the challenge on talkSPORT, Perry Groves said: “It’s exactly the right decision from Michael Oliver, it’s a really, really silly challenge from Fabio Vieira.
“He’s gone right over the top of the ball, it’s a straight-leg challenge, studs up, gets Josh Brownhill on his knee, Michael Oliver has absolutely no option but to send Fabio Vieira off.
“I think he’s having an identity crisis, he thinks he’s Patrick Vieira. Because it was a ridiculously shocking challenge. It was reckless, it’s dangerous and Michael Oliver had no option whatsoever but to send him off. He didn’t even need VAR!”
Vieira’s red card is a blow for Arsenal
Fabio Vieira’s red card today didn’t have any impact on the result of the game, which is good news for Arsenal as they completely deserved to win.
However, the negative here is that Vieira will be suspended for the next three Premier League games.
Arsenal really could’ve done without that at a time when they are already missing Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe, who are both injured.
If at least one of Odegaard or Smith Rowe doesn’t return after the international break, Arsenal could find themselves in real trouble in that area of the pitch.