Arsenal Vs Brighton: Mikel Arteta Gives 'Interesting' Statement On Declan Rice's Controversial Red Card

Declan Rice Red Card: The Arsenal manager was clearly unhappy with the decision of red card against Declan Rice, and made his feelings clear with some 'interesting' statements. Read below

Declan Rice Red Card: Arsenal's draw with Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday now only saw both the sides drop points in the league for the first time this season, but also saw a controversial moment where Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was shown a red card in a bizarre incident.

Reasons for the card are speculated to be 'time wasting', but as per the videos going viral all over the social media, there hardly seemed to be any sort of time wastage incident from the Englishman, and with him receiving his marching orders in the fixture (two yellow cards), Declan Rice is now ruled out of the North London Derby, which is to be played after the conclusion of international break.

The decision caught Mikel Arteta with surprise, who later stated that he was 'amazed' by the decision, and that, there is a lot of 'inconsistency' in refereeing decisions.

"I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be. In the first half, there were two incidents and nothing happened. Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan, he turns around, doesn’t see the player coming and touches the ball. By law, he can make that call, but by law then he needs to make the next call which is a red card. So we play 10 against 11. This amazed me, at this level," said Mikel Arteta in the post-match interview.

Watch the viral video here:

Mikel Arteta Speaks On Arsenal's Draw With Brighton

The Arsenal manager spoke on various topics, and had the following to say:

On Draw Vs Brighton, And Missed Chances:

"It was a very emotional afternoon, for sure. We started the game really well, created three or four chances that we didn’t convert. After that we had a period with some issues, particularly with the ball and we lacked some dominance in that period. We then score a really good goal in a moment when we take advantage of the opponent. Then we go in at half-time, come back and we were really strong. Then the referee makes a decision that changes the course of the game. With 10 men, the team reacted unbelievably well, the stadium reacts unbelievably well and we should have won the game."

"Yes for sure. During this period, how well we controlled the emotional part of the game because it was a really hard one to take. The team reacted and showed a lot of discipline. We adapted to what we had to do, playing at home with 10 men and we don’t want to be sitting deep for so long. We played the game that we had to play and we should’ve been rewarded."

On Sterling's Debut:

"Yes, we’ll have to see and speak to him on what he’s been doing and how he’s feeling about it. We have to try to find quick wins to get him up to speed as quick as possible and him understanding what we are looking for from him and the dynamics of the team. We will use this time to do that and as soon as possible, get him involved."