“The Manchester City midfield man was fortunate not to be sent off by referee Michael Oliver for a poor studs-up challenge above the ankle of Martin Odegaard. On a yellow card after that, Kovacic soon produced another reckless tackle on Declan Rice, which deserved a second cautionable offence and therefore a sending off.
“For the first challenge, ref Oliver did not have the best angle to initially determine if the Croatian endangered the player’s safety with excessive force. It was a red card so it was a surprise VAR official John Brooks did not recommend a review at the monitor.
“I believe if Oliver had seen the challenge again, then he would have sent Kovacic off. It’s where VAR should help but Brooks didn’t.
“Former Chelsea ace Kovacic was late on Rice and Oliver will look at that challenge again and beat himself up that he did not take more action than just a warning. Kovacic was extremely blessed to stay on the field of play at the Emirates.”
