Watch: Tomiyasu studded in face by Everton man; Mike Dean plays on

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Planet Football
6th December 2021

Referee Mike Dean did not endear himself to Arsenal fans during their Premier League game with Everton on Monday night, letting Ben Godfrey get away with a stamp on the face of defender Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Tomiyasu has been one of Arsenal’ most consistent players this season, impressing fans with a no-nonsense approach to his right-back role ever since his £17million move from Bologna on 2021 summer deadline day.

The 23-year-old Japan international has brought a new stability to the Arsenal backline, settling remarkably quickly in north London.

But his trip to Merseyside to play Everton alongside his Gunners team-mates on Monday was not all fun and games.

In the 28th minute, with the score still 0-0, Tomiyasu got caught by a challenge from Everton midfielder Allan, went down and, as he fell, felt the full force of Ben Godfrey’s studs on his face.

To be fair to referee Dean, it was not clear whether he got a full view of the incident in real-time. If he did, he was unmoved.

VAR Stuart Attwell did stop play to have a look at the incident though – and the replay looked pretty bad. Alan Smith, on co-commentary duties on Sky, said: “Looking at that, he [Godfery] is bang in trouble there.”

It was not possible to tell if the action was entirely deliberate on the Everton man’s part, but it was certainly careless and did endanger Tomiyasu.

Yet Attwell was not convinced that it was worthy of a red card, not enough to even call Dean over to the screen. Play went on and Godfrey remained on the pitch.