Premier League issue statement after Clyne avoids red vs Arsenal for 'reckless' tackle

Riccardo Calafiori rolls around on the floor in agony after Nathaniel Clyne's tackle (Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC)

The Premier League issued a statement on social media following Nathaniel Clyne's tackle on Ricciardo Calafiori, that saw him pick up a yellow card in Crystal Palace's 5-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

With the minutes ticking down at Selhurst Park, Clyne went in late into a challenge on Arsenal defender Calafiori, with the Palace defender's studs catching his opponents left ankle.

With the Italian left back rolling in agony, eyes turned towards referee Simon Hooper to see what his verdict on the tackle was. However, only a yellow card was issued, with VAR backing up the call with the decision suggesting it did not amount to 'serious foul play'.

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And a statement from the Premier League's Match Centre clarified: "The referee issued a yellow card to Clyne for a challenge on Calafiori. VAR checked for a potential red card and confirmed the referee's call, deeming that the challenge was reckless and not serious foul play."

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Mikel Arteta certainly would have been concerned at the time, considering Arsenal's ongoing battle with injuries at the back. However, he was left relieved after Calafiori got back up to his feet, before contributing an assist for Declan Rice to cap off a brilliant win for the Gunners.

Calafiori, who has just returned to injury, took to Instagram post-match to hail the victory, "Big congrats to the team for this amazing away win."

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Injury concerns continue to mount for Arsenal however with Arteta confirming Bukayo Saka left the pitch due to a hamstring issue, while Raheem Sterling missed out through injury.

Speaking about Saka's injury, the Arsenal boss expressed his worry: "He felt something in his hamstring. He couldn't continue. He will have to be assessed. Pretty worried about that one.

"It's difficult to do that now [provide an estimate]. They have tested him inside but very difficult to say how bad it is. "I'm not sure if it's exactly the same one. It's in the same leg. He had the third minor injury - I don't know how big this is going to be. But he already had two."

He added: "And Raheem as well. We lost Raheem yesterday and we don’t know for how long. To lose two players in 24 hours is not good. Unfortunately with the amount of games that we are playing and with this schedule it doesn’t surprise me. But the team will react to that."