Bukayo Saka left needing treatment after 'disgusting' tackle sees Ipswich ace sent off

Bukayo Saka was left requiring treatment following a 'disgusting' tackle from Ipswich Town defender Leif Davis saw him receive a straight red card

Ipswich Town defender Leif Davis was shown a straight red card for a high challenge on Arsenal's Bukayo Saka.

During Arsenal's Premier League clash at Portman Road, Ipswich were reduced to 10 men when Davis caught Saka high on the back of the ankle.

With the score at 2-0 to Arsenal, and 32 minutes on the clock, Davis was sent off by referee Chris Kavanagh for his challenge on the half-way line.

Davis' studs landed high on the back of Saka's ankle, seeing the Gunners star leap in the air in agony and land in a pile. The Ipswich defender was shown a straight red card as Saka required treatment.

VAR checked the incident but no on-field review was recommended. After the treatment, Saka was able to continue.

Fans on X slammed the tackle, with one user fuming: "Ipswich Town's Leif Davis is rightly sent off after a dreadful lunge at the back of Bukayo Saka's foot/achilles. Disgusting and dangerous."

A second ranted: "Horrible challenge by Leif Davis, good to see Bukayo Saka back on his feet." A third said: "That is a horrific challenge from Davis, that could have ended so much worse from Saka’s point of view."

Another wrote: "Disgusting challenge from Davis on Saka." While a fifth slammed: "Ipswich fans booing Saka is so strange, Davis got no where near the ball."

Former Arsenal defender Matt Upson branded Davis' tackle as "very poor" as he took aim at the 25-year-old on BBC Radio 5 Live. He said: "I can totally understand the red card when you break down that tackle. It's so intentional.

"That's actually very poor from Leif Davis. You hurt a player and you have made no attempt to go anywhere near the ball."

At half-time, Upson added that the red card buried any chance that Ipswich had of getting anything from the match. He said: "I rarely say a game is over at half-time, but this feels very much like it - unless there is some swashbuckling performance from Ipswich in the second half and I can't see it at all.

"Their left-hand side have been very badly exploited by Arsenal in the first half. Every time Bukayo Saka has had the ball at his feet, he tormented them and he has probably done it at 75% of his capacity."

Following the red card, Saka was booed by Ipswich fans, who embarrassingly blamed the England international for Davis' dangerous tackle. However, Saka was unable to silence those jeers in the first-half as he missed a plethora of chances.

Mikel Arteta's side entered half-time 2-0 up thanks to goals from Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli. The second-half proved one way traffic as Trossard added a third and Ethan Nwaneri made it 4-0 late in the day.