Arsenal defender William Saliba was barred from taking a penalty during the penalty shootout defeat against Manchester United after a little-known rule was enforced.
The Gunners found themselves frustrated throughout the 90 minutes and extra time as they failed to break down a resolute United defence. The visitors took the lead shortly after the interval when Bruno Fernandes capped off a quick counter attack.
However, things appeared to turn in Arsenal’s favour on the hour mark when Diogo Dalot was sent off for a lunging tackle on Mikel Merino. Moments later, the Gunners were level thanks to Gabriel Magalhaes’ deflected strike.
That was as good as it got for Arsenal though as they tried and failed to break down their opponents leading ultimately to a penalty shootout. It was at this point when the little-known rule came into effect.
As Dalot had been sent off earlier, United only had ten players available to take penalties in the shootout. FA rules dictate that the opposition team cannot have more eligible players to take penalties and, as such, the Gunners had to remove a player from their shootout line-up.
Mikel Arteta decided that Saliba was the obvious choice to step aside so the Frenchman was allowed to sit out of the contest. Arsenal lost the shootout after Kai Havertz saw his penalty saved by Altay Bayindir.
United striker Joshua Zirkzee scored the final spot kick to win the contest. Ruben Amorim’s team have been rewarded with a home match against Leicester City in the FA Cup fourth round.
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