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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said he was “amazed” to see Declan Rice sent off in his side’s 1-1 draw against Brighton after “inconsistency” from referee Chris Kavanagh.
Having already been booked for an earlier foul on Brighton’s Joel Veltman, England midfielder Rice received a second yellow card four minutes into the second half for kicking the ball away as the Dutch defender tried to take a free-kick.
Nine minutes later Joao Pedro equalised a Kai Havertz opener to continue Brighton’s unbeaten start to the season and end Arsenal’s 100% record.
“I was amazed,” said Arteta. “Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be. 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 a red card so we play 10vs10. This is what amazed me. At this level it’s amazing.”
The match swung in Brighton’s favour after Arsenal went down to 10 men and the Seagulls had 19 shots to three and an expected goal statistic of 1.9.
Arteta believed his side “deserved to win the game” and that Brighton forward Pedro should have been booked for a kicking the ball away once the whistle went in the first half.
But visiting boss Fabian Hurzeler said you cannot compare the incidents and Rice deserved to be sent off.
“For me, clear red card,” he added. “He shoots the ball away, it’s wasting time.
“You can’t compare the two situations. The first with Joao it is clear it is a free-kick and a static situation. The other one is much more like a dynamic situation.
“Please never compare these situations, because in football two situations never are the same so we can’t compare these situations.”
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