Mikel Arteta said he was “amazed” by Declan Rice‘s dismissal in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brighton on Saturday and called for greater consistency in officiating.
Rice was sent off in the 50th minute after referee Chris Kavanagh issued a second yellow card for what the Premier League later clarified was “delaying the restart” after nudging the ball out of Joël Veltman‘s path as he looked to take a free kick, leading to a clash between the pair.
Veltman kicked Rice instead of the ball and Arteta claimed that should have been punished while also citing Joao Pedro escaping a booking for kicking the ball away in the first half.
“I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be,” Arteta said. In the first half, there are two incidents and nothing happens.
“Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan [on the back of his leg], he turns around, he doesn’t see the player coming and he touches the ball.
“By law, he can make that call, but then by law he needs to make the next call, which is red card so we play 10 vs. 10. This is what amazed me. At this level it’s amazing.”
Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler disputed Arteta’s comparison between Rice’s dismissal and Pedro’s incident.
“You can’t compare these two situations,” he said. “It is a free kick, it is a static situation.
“The other is a dynamic situation. It was not even clearly out. We can never compare these situations. Two situations are never the same so you can’t compare.”
However, Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka repeated his manager’s desire for consistency.
“I thought it was a bit harsh for us,” he told TNT sports. “We just want some consistency. Joao Pedro booted the ball halfway across the pitch in the first half and got nothing for it and Dec got the slightest touch and was sent off.”
Arsenal took the lead seven minutes before the break after fine work from Saka released Kai Havertz, who lifted a fine finish over Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
Brighton made the most of their numerical advantage by equalising on 58 minutes as Joao Pedro turned home the rebound after David Raya saved Yankuba Minteh‘s shot.
After Saka and Havertz missed late chances to win it, Arsenal dropped points for the first time in the Premier League this season.
“We showed a lot of discipline,” Arteta said. “We reacted to what we had to do playing at home with 10 men. We didn’t want to be so deep defending like this, but we read the game and we played the game that we had to play and we should have got rewarded.”
