Former Arsenal forward Alan Smith has labeled Takehiro Tomiyasu's sending-off against Crystal Palace as 'harsh'.

The Japan international was sent off for two bookable offenses during Arsenal's clash with Crystal Palace, the first after being yellow carded for time wasting - holding the ball for just eight seconds.

This comes after Martin Odegaard put his side ahead after Eddie Nketiah won a penalty, being brought down after rounding Sam Johnstone.

Speaking on Sky Sports during the clash, Smith said: 'I’m not wearing my Arsenal colors here but to get sent off for that, I know it’s his second yellow, it just seems harsh.

'A tug of the shirt I can understand but there wasn’t much there at all'.

The sending-off comes after the Premier League introduced new standards to crack down on time wasting.

Kai Havertz held the ball for several seconds before passing it onto Tomiyasu to take a throw-in for the Gunners.

Taking just eight seconds to throw the ball into play, the referee booked the Arsenal defender as he was deemed to be time-wasting.

His second yellow came after he tripped a Crystal Palace player, with Arsenal reduced to ten men.

This saw Gabriel introduced from the bench as Arsenal held a narrow lead over their London rivals.