Keith Hackett criticizes Craig Pawson’s ‘huge mistake’ in Lewis-Skelly’s Arsenal red card decision.

Keith Hackett has criticized Craig Pawson for not immediately sending off Myles Lewis-Skelly during Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham on Saturday.

The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official told Football Insider that Pawson should not have needed a second look at the incident after initially showing the defender a yellow card.

Lewis-Skelly fouled West Ham attacker Mohammed Kudus, who was capitalizing on a defensive mistake and through on goal, bringing him down just inside Arsenal’s half with only one other defender behind the ball.

Earlier in the match, Jarrod Bowen had put Graham Potter’s side ahead at the Emirates on February 22, leaving Arsenal needing to fight back to stay in contention with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.

Lewis-Skelly’s costly mistake

The 18-year-old, who has enjoyed a breakthrough season under Mikel Arteta, made Arsenal’s task even harder with under 20 minutes remaining. Despite his growing confidence—previously even taunting Man City’s Erling Haaland in a 5-1 win—this moment showed his inexperience.

Arsenal fans initially breathed a sigh of relief when Pawson only issued a yellow card, but VAR intervened, upgrading it to a red and reducing Arsenal to 10 men for the remainder of the match.

This incident followed another controversial refereeing decision, with Andy Madley overturning Everton’s penalty in a 2-2 draw against Man United—prompting former boxer Tony Bellew to call him a “cheat.” Hackett also described the decision as “farcical” and criticized Illia Zabarnyi’s red card for Bournemouth against Wolves on the same day.

Hackett questions Pawson’s judgment

Speaking to Football Insider, Hackett expressed his disbelief at Pawson’s initial decision:

“This is another huge mistake. Craig Pawson failed to give a red card for a clear denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. Thankfully, VAR stepped in and corrected the error.

“How did the referee not recognize this as DOGSO? VAR should not have needed to intervene.”

With this defeat, Arsenal have now fallen eight points behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race.