Rio Ferdinand hits out at Michael Oliver over Gabriel Martinelli red card: ‘He wants to be on the news’

Rio Ferdinand has hit out at Michael Oliver after the bizarre sending off of Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli last night, claiming the referee “wants to be on the news”.

The Brazilian was shown two yellow cards within seconds of one another as the Gunners were reduced to ten men in their Premier League clash with Wolves, though they held on to win 1-0 thanks to Gabriel’s first-half goal.

Martinelli first attempted to prevent Wolves from taking a quick throw-in but Oliver played advantage, allowing the home side to continue their attack, which the Arsenal man eventually halted with a foul on Nelson Semedo.

Oliver then indicated one yellow card for the first offence and another for the second, sending Martinelli on his way.

“He wants to be on the news, the ref, doesn’t he?,” Ferdinand said on BT Sport. “It’s so harsh.

“I get the first one, the first one can be a booking, he’s trying to slow the game down. But the second one, especially in the same sequence and phase of play - I just don’t think it warrants another yellow card, no chance.”