Mikel Arteta said he was “surprised” by Declan Rice’s sending off in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Brighton and called for greater consistency from referees.
Rice was sent off in the 50th minute after referee Chris Kavanagh showed a second yellow card for what the Premier League later clarified was “delaying the restart”. The ball bounced out of Joel Veltman’s path as he was about to take a free kick, sparking a clash between the two.
Veltman kicked the ball over Rice instead, and Arteta insisted Joao Pedro should have been punished for avoiding a yellow card in the first half for kicking the ball away.
“I was surprised. It was surprising, surprising, surprising, because of how inconsistent the decisions can be,” Arteta said. “There were two incidents in the first half that didn’t happen.
“Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan (back of the leg), he turns around and doesn’t see the player coming and touches the ball.
“Legally he can make that call, but then by law he has to make the next call, which is a red card and we play 10-10. That’s what’s amazing to me. It’s really great at this level.”
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has challenged Arteta’s comparison between Rice’s sending off and the Pedro incident.
“You can’t compare these two situations,” he said. “This is a free kick, it’s a static situation.
“The other is a dynamic situation. It’s not clearly revealed. We can never compare these situations. The two situations are never the same, so you can’t compare them.”
But Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka has repeatedly stated that the manager wants consistency.
“I thought it was a bit harsh for us,” he told TNT Sports. “We just want consistency. Joao Pedro kicked the ball in the middle of the pitch in the first half and got nothing, and Dec got a little touch and got sent off.”
Arsenal took the lead seven minutes before the break when Kai Havertz, freed by a fine play from Saka, slotted home a superb finish past Brighton goalkeeper Bad Verbruggen.
Brighton took full advantage of their numerical advantage to equalise in the 58th minute, with Joao Pedro converting the rebound after David Raya had saved Yankuba Minthe’s shot.
Arsenal dropped points for the first time this season in the Premier League after Saka and Havertz missed second-half chances to score.
“We showed a lot of discipline,” Arteta said. “We reacted to what we had to do at home with 10 men. We didn’t want to defend this deep, but we read the game and played the game we had to and got rewarded.”
