Club expert suggests Wolves star did something ‘naive and silly’ twice against Arsenal but gave good excuse not to be sent off

Wolves are embroiled in a relegation battle and run the risk of being demoted to the Championship for the first time since 2012.

Although Wolves were expected to lose against Arsenal on the weekend, with Ipswich Town and Leicester City playing Manchester City and Tottenham, respectively, there was hope the Old Gold would stay out of the drop zone.

And while Ipswich lost, as expected, Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Foxes pulled off an upset and beat the Lilywhites 2-1 on their own turf. The results meant Leicester City leapfrogged Wolves in the table.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
17	LeicesterLeicester	23	4	5	14	25	49	-24	17
18	WolvesWolves	23	4	4	15	32	52	-20	16
19	IpswichIpswich	23	3	7	13	21	47	-26	16

Vitor Pereira will still be ruing his side’s missed opportunity, though. The Old Gold, playing in front of a raucous Molineux crowd, saw Arsenal go down to 10 men after Myles Lewis-Skelly was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Matt Doherty.

The home side were unable to capitalise and ended up losing after Joao Gomes also saw red. Arsenal went on to beat Wolves 1-0 and remain in the title race.

Joao Gomes lucky not have been sent off earlier against Arsenal

While Lewis-Skelly’s red card is up for debate with most fans and pundit agreeing it was a harsh decision, there is no doubting Joao Gomes deserved to be sent off.

The midfielder was booked in the first half for kicking the ball away and picked up a second yellow in the second half for a poorly timed tackle on Jurrien Timber.

However, according to Express and Star reporter Liam Keen, the Brazilian was lucky not have seen red sooner.

“Wolves are getting into their groove, they’re getting into their rhyme, their mo-jo is back and then Joao Gomes gets himself sent off,” he said on the Keen and Judah Show.

“The first half yellow card was him kicking the ball away. It seemed to me, obviously I haven’t spoken to Joao about this, but it seemed to me like he was indicating to the referee that he couldn’t hear the whistle. Regardless of that, booting the ball away when we know what the referees do this season with the new rules in place is naive and silly, to say the least.

“He actually does it in the second half as well; doesn’t boot it as far but just taps it away and claims the same thing; that he couldn’t hear the whistle. Michael Oliver was lenient on him on that occasion, about 10 or 15 minutes before his actual second yellow.”

Frustrating behaviour from the South American, whose dismissal almost certainly denied Wolves at least one point.

Lessons must be learned

Joao Gomes’ sending off means he will miss next weekend’s Midlands derby against Aston Villa.

The only good news is that receiving two yellows instead of a straight red means he is suspended for one match — not three.

Although Joao Gomes’ recent sending-off was just the second time he’s seen red since joining Wolves, his ill-discipline is a cause for concern.

He averages a card every three games, and while physicality is needed, especially in midfield, his frequent walking of a tightrope puts his teammates under unnecessary pressure.

Joao Gomes will return to face Blackburn in the FA Cup on February 9th before Wolves travel to play leaders Liverpool one week later.