Arsenal teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly broke an unwanted Premier League record with his straight red card in Saturday's disheartening 1-0 loss to West Ham United.
The Gunners' hopes of usurping Liverpool at the top of the table suffered a potentially fatal blow in their London derby, where Jarrod Bowen's header was the difference between the two sides.
Arsenal therefore remain eight points below the Reds in the Premier League table on the same number of games, and Liverpool will go a whopping 11 clear by beating Manchester City on Sunday.
To rub salt into the wounds during their first top-flight home loss of the season, Arsenal went down to 10 men midway through the second half, as Lewis-Skelly took the walk of shame for a last-man foul on Mohammed Kudus.
The Hale End graduate initially escaped with just a yellow card for hauling down the West Ham attacker, who bullied him off the ball on the halfway line, but referee Craig Pawson changed his mind following an on-field review.
Lewis-Skelly sets unwanted red card record vs. West Ham
© Imago
Lewis-Skelly has now received two red cards in the 2024-25 top-flight campaign, and at just 18 years and 121 days old, he is the youngest player to be sent off more than once in the history of the Premier League.
The left-back's first severe sanction came away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in January, where he was controversially dismissed by Michael Oliver for a tackle on Matt Doherty that was deemed to have been serious foul play.
Arsenal subsequently succeeded with an appeal against Lewis-Skelly's red card at Molineux, meaning that he did not have to serve a three-game ban, but the Gunners are not expected to try to overturn Saturday's decision.
As opposed to a three-match ban for serious foul play, though, the 18-year-old will only sit out one game for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, meaning that he will be unavailable to face Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta was asked for his reaction to Lewis-Skelly's dismissal in his post-game press conference, but the Spaniard stressed that he had not had time to analyse the incident, saying: "I haven't seen it back but honestly, I would focus on what we have to do.
"I don't know if the decision was right or wrong, I haven't seen it to evaluate it. But I think we should have done better today, it wasn't enough. I have to see the action back to evaluate it."
Who will replace Lewis-Skelly against Nottingham Forest?
© Imago
While Lewis-Skelly's ban is less than ideal - especially given that he would have been relatively fresh for the colossal clash at the City Ground - Arteta is still spoiled for choice on the left-hand side.
Riccardo Calafiori was actually given the nod over Lewis-Skelly on Saturday, but the Italian did not cover himself in glory whatsoever, allowing Aaron Wan-Bissaka too much time and space to deliver the cross that landed on Bowen's head for the winner.
Calafiori should still be the number one pick to deputise for Lewis-Skelly, but Oleksandr Zinchenko - who played in midfield for the second half of the West Ham loss - Kieran Tierney and forgotten man Jakub Kiwior are alternative options.
Arsenal suffered a double Hale End-based blow on Saturday, as Ethan Nwaneri also limped off in the second half, and Arteta also delivered an update on the winger's condition post-match.
Ben Knapton
