Former Premier League official Mark Halsey has claimed that Arsenal's Max Dowman was unfortunate to be shown a straight red card in his side's Carabao Cup loss to Fleetwood Town, according to a report in The Sun on Wednesday October 28, 2026.

The 16-year-old was shown a straight red card in the 85th minute after appearing to swing a kick at Fleetwood midfielder Harrison Neal. The sending-off ultimately proved costly for Arsenal as they lost on penalties.

But Halsey feels that the teenager displayed no signs of violent conduct and compares it to Cole Palmer's altercation with Mateus Fernandes in Chelsea's Premier League clash against Tottenham.

"Max Dowman was unfortunate to be sent off for his retaliation towards Harrison Neal in Arsenal's disaster Carabao Cup exit," Halsey said.

"Palmer was arguably more aggressive but still only got a yellow card." "It's not too different. If anything, Palmer was slightly more aggressive.

"So I don't think it was an act of violent conduct. It was just an aggressive nature. Which is what happened to Palmer."

The ex-referee admitted Dowman was at fault for retaliating to the challenge but did not feel it warranted a straight red card. "He was frustrated after getting hit with a big challenge from Neal but the defender clearly had the ball," he added.

Arsenal have appealed Dowman's sending-off and Halsey believes there is a chance that the disciplinary panel overturn the decision.

However, the absence of VAR meant that Michael Salisbury had to make the decision, unlike Chris Kavanagh who officiated Palmer's incident.

If Dowman's appeal is unsuccessful, he will miss three games. This will impact the youngster going forward as it will mean he cannot play in the Premier League. This could mean he misses Arsenal's game at Liverpool, along with Hull City and Newcastle United.