David Seaman couldn’t believe his eyes when an Arsenal star was booked during the 2-2 draw with Manchester City – before he had even made his senior debut.
Myles Lewis-Skelly made his debut as an injury-time sub at the Etihad last Sunday, just moments before John Stones fired in the equaliser to salvage a point for City.
But when the teenager came onto the pitch, replacing Jurrien Timber, he was unusually already on a yellow card having been booked by referee Michael Oliver while on the subs bench.
The incident occurred in the 65th minute when Lewis-Skelly ran behind David Raya’s goal-line and appeared to pass on a message to the keeper, who then went down complaining of cramp.
The subsequent break in play allowed Mikel Arteta to deliver a team talk on the sideline before Oliver brandished his yellow card, with the PGMOL later stating that Lewis-Skelly’s booking was for ‘showing a lack of respect for the game’.
While Arsenal fans were frustrated with the officials, especially after Leandro Trossard was sent off for time-wasting, Seaman found the incident to be quite hilarious, especially as he didn’t see it coming from the 17-year-old.
‘He got booked before making his Premier League debut!’ the Gunners legend exclaimed on the Seaman Says podcast, sponsored by Betway.
‘It’s so funny because I go into Arsenal once a week with the U18s or U23s, have been for three years now.
‘He [Lewis-Skelly] came in as a schoolboy, so he then trained with the U18s and then he put his school uniform back on to go back to school.
‘And to see where he is now, it’s just so incredible. And he’s a really quiet lad so to get a booking [for disrespectful behaviour]!’
It wasn’t just Oliver who Lewis-Skelly seemed to annoy, with the debutant among the Arsenal contingent targeted by Erling Haaland after the game who was seen saying: ‘Who the f**k are you?’ to the youngster.
Capable of playing at left-back or in midfield, Lewis-Skelly joined Arsenal’s academy when he was just eight-years-old and according to Arteta is ready to ‘step up’ to the first-team.
It’s given us a big platform for them to understand how good they are and the options that we have in the squad right now and they’ll certainly be training with us.
‘What I love the most is their attitude, their personality, how much they want it, the way they were competing in training. We throw them in very difficult circumstances and it was a great test to see where they are and they are going to be in a good place.’
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