Frustrated Mikel Arteta Bemoans Referee's Inconsistency After Declan Rice Red Card

Declan Rice was sent off for a second bookable offence after 49 minutes for delaying the restart from a Brighton free-kick, leaving Arteta to question the consistency of the referee's decision-making.

“If that happens throughout the game in a consistent way that’s fine,” he told TNT Sports in a post-match interview.

“But it didn’t happen. In the first half, there were a number of occasions where they kicked the ball away and nothing happened. 

“It’s inconsistency and it's in an area where it’s not critical. You made that call and you have to give a red card.

“If we have to play with 10, they have to play with 10 as well.”

Despite his annoyance at the red card, Arteta was able to find positives in the performance of his team.

Arsenal went 1-0 up after 38 minutes through Kai Havertz’s second goal of the season, before conceding a second-half equaliser following Rice’s dismissal.

“We started the game really good, created three or four big chances,” he said.

“We started the second half really good, had some good moments and momentum and obviously that decision changes the game completely.

“It was unbelievable the way the team reacted [after the goal] with 10 men, playing 48 minutes, we should have won the game.”

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler, meanwhile, had a different opinion to his counterpart.

“It was a red card, he shoots the ball away. He was wasting time,” said Hurzeler in his post-match press conference.

“If Arsenal think otherwise, there are now two opinions.”

When asked about a similar incident in which Joao Pedro seemed to avoid punishment for kicking the ball away, Hurzeler suggested the two events were not like-for-like.

“You can’t compare the two situations,” he said.

“In football, two situations are never the same. I was booked because I was complaining about the tackle against Joel [Veltman] in the first half. We can accept it’s in the Premier League, it’s a yellow card, but I think no one can complain if the referee gives the red card.”