Keith Hackett: Man City star could have been sent off vs Arsenal, he’s a ‘very lucky boy’
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Credit: Imago
Harri Burton
Tue 23 September 2025 7:00, UK
Pep Guardiola was lucky not to see his Man City side go down to 10 men during the draw with Arsenal.
That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that the Citizens could have been handed a huge disadvantage after 36 minutes.
Mikel Arteta has already been warned over Gabriel Magalhaes, who refused to bite his tongue during the 1-1 draw on Sunday, 21 September, but avoided any sanction from referee Stuart Attwell.
The referee kept his cards in his pocket, which was especially important when Bernardo Silva and Leandro Trossard clashed in a childish incident, but one of those players was lucky to be involved at that point.
In the 38th minute, Bernardo picked up the first booking of the match after crunching into a challenge on Gabriel, setting a poor example as City’s captain following the departure of Kevin De Bruyne.
Not much was made of the incident, with Attwell quickly brandishing the yellow card, but some felt that the Portuguese star deserved more than just a simple caution at the Emirates Stadium.
Erling Haaland had already opened the scoring after nine minutes, but had the Citizens gone down to 10 men, it might have been all three points for the Gunners rather than settling for a draw.
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Gabriel Martinelli popped up with a very late equaliser, which sent the home crowd berserk, but Arsenal are still unlikely to challenge Liverpool for the Premier League title, with a five-point gap already emerging.
Hackett spoke exclusively to Football Insider about Bernardo’s challenge, saying: “It’s in between a yellow and a red.
I think that’s more than a yellow.”
Surprisingly, it was only the midfielder’s first booking of the 2025-26 campaign, having picked up a total of seven just in the Premier League last term, and he will need to set a better example moving forward.