Is there a refereeing conspiracy against Arsenal?

Here we are again, back down conspiracy lane after Michael Oliver brandished two yellow cards to Gabriel Martinelli in unique fashion as Arsenal beat Wolves 1-0 on Thursday.

Mikel Arteta’s side held on for a vital three points despite being reduced to ten men for the remaining 20 minutes plus stoppage time, putting in a stern defensive showing to fend of their host’s late flurry.

But still, the decision to show Martinelli two yellow cards in the same 10-second sequence with Wolves being allowed to play on after the first foul was committed set the discourse off. The abnormal manner of the dismissal added to the disgruntlement.

It was also the right decision: if the argument was that Martinelli didn’t know he was booked in the first incident of the advantage then that showed incredible naivety from him. He blatantly attempted to halt the throw-in, and then followed through with a deliberate foul that demonstrated a clear lack of composure.

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Is there a refereeing conspiracy against Arsenal? Gabriel Martinelli’s red card against Wolves prompts discussion of wider agenda

He’ll learn from it, unlike some other serial offenders, but it is not part of some wider conspiracy that suggests Arsenal players take to the pitch with targets on their foreheads.

Already this year Gabriel and Thomas Partey have seen red, both for two yellow cards fouls, and neither bookings were more than three minutes apart. There is undoubtedly a healthy dose of pure bad luck, with marginal decisions seeming to go against Arsenal – Partey’s first foul against Liverpool, for example – but the overriding emotion is that this team perform the classic of ‘giving the referee a decision to make’.

It is now 15 times that a player has seen red under Arteta’s tutelage, an outrageous number to have accumulated, which prompts angered supporters to seek solace in theory. We’d all like referees to focus more on keeping 22 players on the pitch, but as in the case of Gabriel’s second against Manchester City, he’s committed a needless foul that every referee will have to at least think twice about.

Every other team in the Premier League could piece together their own collage of woeful decisions that have gone against them. The world does not revolve around just Arsenal.

What about those that have gone against Arsenal? The Bukayo Saka assault, the Ben Godfrey stamp etc? Well, these are shocking decisions. Plain and simple. How on earth these were viewed by VAR and left unpunished can only be put down to exceptional refereeing incompetence.

But how about Xhaka avoiding any punishment for a clear stamp on Raphinha at Elland Road? It’s swings and roundabouts in a division where consistency and the general quality of officiating is severely lacking.

Bad refereeing does no constitute corrupt refereeing. There is a combination of factors involved across this season ranging from the atrocious calls, to a total lack of composure, as well as rotten bad luck on marginal decisions. Arsenal don’t help themselves, though, and the players’ universal lack of self-control is the primary source of this spate of red cards.

They have not had the roll of the dice on a series of occasions, but they needn’t be placing any bets on in the first place.

Calamity? Yes. Conspiracy? No.