Pedro was shown a red card during the Community Shield meeting between Chelsea and Arsenal as the Gunners galloped to a victory on penalties
Chelsea failed to defeat Arsenal in their Community Shield face-off after losing out to Arsene Wenger’s side in the FA Cup final as well. Arsenal won with a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw but it was Pedro’s infamous red card which ended up being the single most talked-about point regarding the match.
The latest addition to Chelsea’s long list of masked men, Pedro initially looked rather lethal as he went up the flanks to break Arsenal’s defence. He did do well for the Blues as long as he was playing but then it all changed with a challenge on Elneny that got him a red card and arguably cost his team the game.
Pedro was given his marching orders after a shocking challenge on the Egyptian, while Sead Kolasinac headed Arsenal level from the resulting set piece. Chelsea were actually the better side in the second half and Elneny was going nowhere before Pedro raked his studs down the midfielder’s ankle.
It did not take too long for Twitter to react, and here are some of the best tweets:
Excellent refereeing.Fully deserved red card for Pedro. Irresponsible tackle.
— Babanla (@biolakazeem) August 6, 2017
There was just 88 seconds between Pedro's red card and Sead Kolasinac's goal.
Live: https://t.co/7xwNICiolt #ARSvsCHE pic.twitter.com/X2evo0rmHx
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) August 6, 2017
BTW, to reiterate: this is NOT a competitive game. Pedro will NOT be banned following that red card. He can be selected to face Burnley.
— Dan Levene (@danlevene) August 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/william__hall/status/894369436009889792
https://twitter.com/oktranking/status/894342213492252673
https://twitter.com/SoccerNationNg/status/894208843462344705
While majority of the fans agreed with the decision, there were a decent number of fans who believed that a red card was uncalled for, and that a yellow should have sufficed.
A foul yes. A red card challenge? Really? #pedro
— Darren Lewis (@Darren_Lewis5) August 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/carbislli/status/894215796402118657
https://twitter.com/blueguyO9/status/894411448301912064
https://twitter.com/realchadders/status/894328748270657537
https://twitter.com/Buchanamania/status/894317670228795394
While one side voiced strong opinions as to why it shouldn’t have been a red card, the other side too had pretty convincing arguments. Take a look:
Let's get it right, the Pedro challenge was a disgrace and could have snapped his Achilles. Definite red card.
— Ray Coffey (@RayBrisca) August 6, 2017
Only just seen the red card from today for Pedro. Poor tackle, looked like he knew exactly what he was doing. Red for me.
— Adam Haylett (@Adam_Haylett) August 6, 2017
This was a really nasty tackle from Pedro. Does anybody really doubt that it deserved a red card ? pic.twitter.com/hdhmHpsrn8
— Martin Wengrow (@MartinWengrow) August 6, 2017
That's great from Pedro. Pretending to be injured to avoid a red card. Unlucky mate
— king gobshite (@lvw103) August 6, 2017
