Steve Bruce had a pop at Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli for being down on the ground ‘for two minutes’ following a challenge by Fabian Schar on Sunday, as he told Sky Sports.
In the dying moments of the game, with Arsenal heading towards three points, Schar’s tackle on Martinelli resulted in the Newcastle defender receiving a straight red.
It was a late challenge by Schar, who has only returned to action, with Martinelli then receiving treatment for a few minutes.
But Bruce didn’t think it was a red card challenge, as he warned about contact in football been taken away from the game.
“You get a red card but you cannot tackle anyone, anymore it seems,” said Bruce. “Yes, it’s a contact game. Fab (Schar) has worked tirelessly to be back here. For three months he has worked.
“And I think it’s a real, real harsh sending off. I hope they look at it. The referees have got a difficult job because of this letter of the law.
“But with no crowds, we hear every scream and every hollow. For me, he hasn’t really touched the lad to be over for two minutes.
“If it’s a yellow, fair enough. But we need to be careful if we eradicate the contact in the game because I am screaming for it at half-time.”
Martinelli was one of the standout performers for Arsenal on Sunday and it was a timely moment to tell his manager that he should start the second leg of their Europa League tie.
For many weeks now, Arsenal fans have called for their highly-rated teenager to earn more minutes, but Mikel Arteta has thought otherwise.
Now, it will be interesting if his thinking has changed now that Arsenal need the goals when their former manager visits the Emirates on Thursday.
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