Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta fumes over Declan Rice red card and 'lack of consistency'
Mikel Arteta was not happy with the referee's decision
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was furious with the refereeing decisions with Declan Rice getting sent off against Brighton.
The Gunners were a goal up at the time after Kai Havertz had scored in the first half before Rice was shown a second yellow card.
The England international was guilty of kicking the ball away but in contentious circumstances with the Arsenal fans in the Emirates fuming.
Joao Pedro compounded their misery moments later when he grabbed an equaliser as the match finished 1-1 in north London.
Mikel Arteta was not happy with the referee's decision
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And they were not alone with Arteta responding angrily to the incident in his post-match press conference.
Arteta said: "If it [bookings] happens throughout the game in a consistent way it is fine but it didn't. It is the inconsistency."
The Spaniard added: "I was amazed. In the first half when the opponents did that they didn't get any booking.
"He makes the call by law in a non critical area of the pitch when the ball hit the heel when turning around, to make that decision.
"By law he can do it but be consistent. If that is the case they should have a man sent off and then it is 10 v 10."
When asked what explanation he had been given for the red card, he replied: "None, like always."
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Arteta was referring to a moment in the first half where Pedro ran off the pitch chasing a ball before booting it away right in front of the dugouts.
The Gunners boss looked furious that referee Chris Kavanagh did not hand out a booking at the time.
Though the match official did find his cards when Rice toed the ball out of play when Joel Veltman tried to take a free-kick.
By the letter of the law, Rice can have no complaints as delaying the restart of play is guilty of a yellow card.
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Declan Rice was shown a second yellow vs Brighton
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And having been booked earlier in the contest, after a crunching challenge on Veltman in the first half, the England international looked bamboozled by the decision.
It is the first red card of Rice's career and gives Arsenal a massive headache with their next Premier League match coming against Tottenham after the international break.
However, Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has insisted the referee made the right call.
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Declan Rice
"First of all he shoots the ball away so it is a clear yellow card, it changes the momentum of the game," he said.
"We started to control the game and then the goal happens out of nowhere. We didn't defend it well, the red card changed the game for sure. We wanted to win, we didn't do it so we have to be satisfied with the draw.
"There's still room for a lot of improvements. We try and go step-by-step."
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