Arsenal fans are baffled that Ben Godfrey has not been sent off at Goodison Park.The Gunners made the trip to Goodison Park on Monday trying to bounce back from two defeats in their last three Premier League games courtesy of Liverpool and Manchester United.However, their second trip to Merseyside in just a few weeks held far more promise with Everton wading through a terrible run of form under Rafael Benitez with no league wins since September.
Godfrey lands boot on Tomiyasu's face
But Arsenal certainly didn't have everything their own way during the opening 30 minutes with the prevailing narrative actually surrounding whether or not Godfrey should have been sent off.
The England international had turned more than a few heads during the Arsenal clash with a meaty challenge on Takehiro Tomiyasu and a tackle that sent Bukayo Saka crashing to the turf.
However, many fans thought that Godfrey's streak of defensive battles was coming to an end when VAR reviewed an incident where he appeared to stamp on Tomiyasu's face.
Should Godfrey have been sent off?
There was no denying that Godfrey's boot landed on the head of the Japanese defender, but was it an unavoidable accident or some cheeky afters?
Either way, Godfrey was spared any punishment at all, so be sure to check out the episode down below to see whether or not you think that the right course of action was taken:
Arsenal fans express their anger
Well, to say that the vast majority of Arsenal supporters weren't best pleased would be the mother of all understatements with hundreds of onlookers taking to Twitter to vent their frustrations.
One Arsenal fan moaned: "That’s a red. All day long… except that Mike Dean is the ref…"
Another Gooner protested: "I cannot believe VAR has looked at that and not deemed it a stamp on Tomiyasu’s face by Godfrey. The action says it all! Could’ve easily been avoided."
Everton vs Arsenal Match Reaction (Football Terrace)
A third supporter chimed in: "VAR is a joke. Imagine if this was Xhaka, he would've been sent off immediately. Godfrey literally stood on his chin and didn't even get a yellow card."
A fourth fan posted: "Godfrey stamps on Tomiyasu’s face and Mike Dean doesn’t give a red card. Scandalous."
While a fifth viewer remarked: "The rules of football are different when Arsenal are involved. It has to be the case. Jonny Evans. Harry Maguire. Ben Godfrey. You can do whatever you want to Arsenal."
And even Piers Morgan piled in by tweeting: "Not even booked… for deliberately stamping on Tomiyasu’s face. Outrageous by Godfrey, and the referee."
It's easy to see both sides of the story, but there's no denying that the situation is amplified by the fact that someone's boot landing on a face always looks pretty brutal regardless of the intent.
Besides, even though Godfrey is the only person who can possibly know exactly what was going on, it's fair to say that Tomiyasu has a nasty little mark on his face either way.
