Mateo Kovacic had a poor game for Manchester City against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and was probably lucky not to get sent off in the first half.
Manchester City suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal in North London in the Premier League on Sunday.
Gabriel Martinelli scored the only goal of the match in the 86th minute.
The Brazil international’s effort deflected in off Nathan Ake.
Mateo Kovacic controversy v Arsenal
Mateo Kovacic started the match for City.
The 29-year-old, who joined from Chelsea in the summer transfer window, was deployed on the left of a midfield-three.
The former Real Madrid player was taken off midway through the second half.
Kovacic was probably lucky to stay on the pitch as long as he did.
The Croatia international earned a yellow card for a challenge Martin Odegaard on the halfway line.
The midfielder missed the ball completely and followed through onto the Arsenal star’s right ankle.
Kovacic then made a challenge on Declan Rice.
The City star was too slow to intercept Rice’s pass, and the diving tackle looked dangerous.
No card was given.
Kovacic stayed on.
Peter Schmeichel verdict on Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic
Former Manchester City goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel was following the match for BBC Radio 5 Live, and he was not particularly impressed with the £150,000-a-week (Spotrac) midfielder.
Schmeichel said on BBC Radio 5 Live: “That’s a very late challenge. I don’t know what he was thinking.
“Pep would do well to take him off now, or risk going down to 10 men.”
During his time on the pitch, Kovacic had a pass accuracy of 97.3%, took 45 touches, and made three tackles.
City are third in the Premier League table at the moment with 18 points from eight matches.
Pep Guardiola’s side are two points behind North London clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, who are first and second respectively in the standings.
