Mikel Arteta was not happy with the red card handed out to Declan Rice, as the Arsenal boss fumed at the inconsistencies from the officials in their feisty 1-1 home draw with Brighton.
With Arsenal 1-0 up, Rice was sent off early in the second half after picking up a second yellow card for stopping Joel Veltman take a quick free kick by flicking the ball away.
The Arsenal boss said the referee “made a decision that changes the course of the game” and said his side should have won it even after they went down to 10 men.
Arteta spoke to reporters after the game about the incident and pointed to several similar incidents in the game, one involving Brighton’s Joao Pedro, which weren’t punished by the officials.
What did Mikel Arteta say on Declan Rice’s red card?
“I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be. In the first half, there were two incidents and nothing happened,” Arteta said. “Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan, he turns around, doesn’t see the player coming and touches the ball. By law, he can make that call, but by law then he needs to make the next call which is a red card. So we play 10 against 11. This amazed me, at this level.”
Arteta revealed he had spoken to Rice after the game about the incident.
“Yes. Obviously he had a reaction. Anyway, I will repeat myself. By law, you want to do it but you didn’t do it in the first half. And then we have to play 11 against 10. Very simple,” Arteta added.
The red card now means that Rice will be suspended for Arsenal’s next game, away at Tottenham in the north London derby on Sunday, September 15.
That is a massive blow and Arsenal will have to better at controlling their emotions as Brighton suckered them in and they took the bait.