Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus was left fuming with his opponent Yerson Mosquera after the Wolves defender groped his backside during their 2-0 Premier League win on Saturday.
The Brazilian was sent on as a late substitute for Kai Havertz by Mikel Arteta and made his presence known on the pitch, chasing down defenders and engaging in physical duels.
One particular battle saw him tangle with Mosquera, who was fortunate to still be on the pitch after an earlier incident with Kai Havertz. And the Colombian somehow avoided punishment again for an incident where he grabbed Jesus’ buttock.
Jesus was bent over to refit his boot that had come unattached. At which point, Mosquera leant over the 26-year-old and bizarrely placed his hand on the Gunners star’s backside.
Unsurprisingly, Jesus sprung up from the ground and immediately retaliated, shoving Mosquera onto the ground before holding his arms out in bewilderment.
Jesus gestured to his backside when explaining why he pushed the Colombian, but surprisingly, he was the one who earned a yellow card for his reaction.
And to heighten his frustration, Mosquera managed to escape for a second time without picking up a booking.
Mosquera was also involved in an earlier flare-up with Havertz whereby the 23-year-old appeared to grab the German by the neck and choke him for at least a couple of seconds.
Havertz required treatment on the ground after the coming together and, despite there being a significant break in play for VAR assistant Paul Tierney to intervene, the officials deemed the incident not worthy of ‘serious foul play’ and therefore no red card.
While changes have been made to VAR this season to encourage officials to only use the system if a serious offence or mistake has occurred, the fact that the incident went unpunished from Mosquera will only increase the heat on PGMOL.
The new rules state that a “referee’s call” means that the VAR should only intervene if they can “see without any doubt the on-pitch official has made a clear mistake”. Otherwise the initial decision will stand.
But Arsenal will no doubt feel aggrieved when reviewing the footage involving Jesus and Havertz, especially as the game was in the balance at 1-0 for the majority of the second half.
Arteta was not asked about the incident in his post-match interview, but it remains to be seen whether Mosquera could yet face an investigation for his actions during the game at the Emirates Stadium.
