Manchester City midfielder Rodri was sent off with a straight red card on Saturday. The incident took place in the second half of the match against Nottingham Forest. Rodri got involved in a tussle with Morgan Gibs-White, resulting in him being sent off. At the time of the incident, City were leading 2-0.
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Rodri was covering the ball at the corner flag when he and Gibbs-White got into a tussle. Man City star pushed Gibbs-White close to the throat, which resulted in the Forest man falling to the ground.
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Referee Anthony Taylor consulted the VAR to confirm the decision. Rodri will be out for the next three games, including the clash with Arsenal.
The ex-Atletico Madrid forward has become one of the most reliable number six’s in Europe in recent years, having scored a dramatic winner against Arsenal in the 2021/2022 season. In the previous season, City triumphed twice over the North Londoners, winning 3-1 at Emirates Stadium and then thrashing their rivals 4-1 in April.
Former referee Mike Dean, commenting on the incident on Sky Sports, conceded that Gibbs-White went down rather easily, but couldn’t argue with the decision.
“Gibbs-White goes down a bit theatrically. But when you see it from another angle when you look he has pushed him in the neck, hence the reason why I think he’s sent him off,” he explained.
Notably, Manchester City equalled their best ever start to a Premier League season. The Cityzens have maintained an all-win record in their first six matches, scoring 16 goals and conceding only three.
They will play Newcastle, Wolves and Arsenal in the next three Premier League fixtures. The three-match suspension of one of the best DMs of the world will definitely create problems for Pep Guardiola’s side, but they have got plenty of firepower in the squad to ride this out. The likes of Kalvin Phillips has been waiting in the dugout for a chance to play. With the absence of Rodri, he will be hoping for some game time.