Arsenal were left to lament a hugely controversial refereeing decision after Declan Rice was sent off during their dramatic draw against Brighton in the Premier League.
The Gunners dropped points in only their third game of the season at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday lunchtime following back-to-back 2-0 wins over Wolves and Aston Villa to begin the new campaign, suffering an early blow in their latest anticipated title battle with reigning champions Manchester City.
Their match against Brighton, who had also made an impressive 100 per cent start to life under new manager Fabian Hurzeler, turned on the dismissal of Rice, who was shown a second yellow card four minutes after the interval after Kai Havertz had earlier lobbed Arsenal into a late first-half lead following superb work from Bukayo Saka to see off Lewis Dunk.
Joao Pedro slotted home the rebound after Yankuba Minteh was initially denied by David Raya to equalise for the Seagulls less than 10 minutes after Rice received the first red card of his 245-game Premier League career.
Declan Rice can't believe it as he's sent off for kicking the ball away 😳
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There were chances for both sides to go on and win the game, with Havertz and Saka both denied by Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen as Raya stood strong to thwart Yasin Ayari.
However, it eventually finished 1-1 as Arsenal went into the season’s first international break in frustrated mood, with Rice now suspended for their north London derby at Tottenham on September 15, Mikel Arteta’s midfield options further depleted with new signing Mikel Merino already ruled out for several weeks with a shoulder injury suffered in his first training session.
That meeting with Spurs is followed by a trip to face City, with confirmation earlier on Saturday that their opening game of the new-look Champions League format will come away in Italy against Europa League holders Atalanta in between those two huge Premier League matches.
Rice was already walking a tightrope against Brighton, having been booked for a first-half lunge on Joel Veltman - with Brighton boss Hurzeler booked for seemingly protesting that decision as too lenient.
But there was initially totally confusion when he received his second caution just minutes after the break, having tussled with Veltman again in the corner as Arsenal went in search of another goal with Rice seeing a quick effort deflected over the crossbar by Jack Hinshelwood.
Rice initially gave away a cheap free-kick after taking on and beating Veltman and then losing the ball. Veltman then kicked the ball forward into the foot of Rice, who proceeded to nudge the ball away with his right boot with his back to Veltman, who appeared to want to take a quick free-kick.
Veltman followed through with his attempt, catching Rice in the shin as the Arsenal midfielder hit the floor and home fans both called for and seemed to fully expect Veltman to be the one receiving his marching orders.
Instead it was Rice who was sent for an early bath for preventing the free-kick being taken amid plenty of confusion around a stunned Emirates, who vented their frustration at referee Chris Kavanagh for the remainder of the game.
“The referee issued a second yellow card to Declan Rice for delaying the restart,” the Premier League confirmed in a short statement.
An angry Arteta cut an exasperated figure after that decision and indeed following the game, admitting by the letter of the law that Rice could have been sent off, but also questioning why Veltman wasn’t also dismissed for kicking Rice and how Joao Pedro avoided any punishment for also kicking the ball away in the first half.
TNT Sports replays showed that first-half incident that left Arteta incensed, with Pedro unable to keep a fast ball in play down the left flank after 18 minutes and smashing it away in frustration right in front of the Arsenal manager’s technical area.
“I was amazed,” said Arteta, when asked about Rice’s red card in his post-match press conference. “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 (the referee) 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.
“He obviously had a reaction that his back was to the ball, that they’re not in the middle of the park, trying to counter or anything.
“Anyway, I repeat myself – by law if you want to do it you have to do it, but you have to do it in the first half and play 10 against 10. That’s it. Very simple.”
