Arsenal star's brother gets bizarre red card for Basel as fans hail referee

The older brother of Arsenal star Granit, it is easy to see where the Gunners midfielder gets his hot streak from after a show of aggression from the Basel star.

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Basel suffered a 2-0 loss on Sunday and the team lost their heads, including Xhaka, who was one of four players to get sent off in the match.

But it was the 32-year-old's red card that had fans scratching their heads and has since gone viral on social media.

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Xhaka was already down the tunnel after receiving a second yellow card for headbutting Zurich player Nikola Katic in the chest, like Zinedine Zidane at the 2006 World Cup final.

The referee consulted VAR and called back the Albania international, much to his delight.

And after he cancelled the second yellow, Xhaka went jogging back onto the pitch before the referee grabbed his attention again.

It was at this moment that the match official brandished a red card, much to the bamboozlement of Xhaka, who tugged on the referee's arm.

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Trying to plead his case, the referee was having none of it and commanded the midfielder to walk back down the tunnel he just emerged from.

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VAR determined that the headbutt deserved a straight red card rather than a second yellow.

And fans were loving the course of action taken by the ref, with one Twitter user saying: "I've got a lot of time for incidents like this."

Another wrote: "Haha, this has to be the best trolling of all time. The ref should take a bow."

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While a third tweeted: "This is proper VAR use. Not that PL's wannabe VAR with 'clear and obvious' lies."

The Basel man is not the only member of the Xhaka family to have a penchant for moments of madness, with brother Granit renowned for some crazy incidents.

Since signing for the Gunners in 2016, the Switzerland international has been sent off five times and accumulated a whopping 79 yellow cards.

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Mikel Arteta appears to have tamed the beast, though, with Xhaka keeping out of the referee's attention too much this season.

He has yet to be sent off this campaign but still has been booked eight times in 44 games.