Controversial expulsion and loss of points. I was left in awe, the Arsenal coach was angry – Foreign Leagues – Soccer

The football coach of the English club Arsenal London, Mikel Arteta, was really fired up after Saturday’s draw with Brighton (1:1) in the Premier League 2024/2025.

Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta was not satisfied with the work of the head referee.

Arteta was upset by the loss of points at home and the fact that the “gunners” finished the duel without the suspended midfielder Declan Rice. And that was perhaps the reason for Arteta’s anger, as the Spaniard probably felt that, if not for the red card, the Londoners would have been able to win the match.

Arsenal led the game 1-0 through Kai Havertz and looked to be in control, but Rice received a second yellow card early in the second half, apparently for pushing the ball into the side as Brighton’s Joel Veltman attempted to a quick free-kick near the touchline deep in Brighton’s half. Veltman kicked Rice from behind and the home crowd shouted for the Brighton player to be punished, but referee Chris Kavanagh showed Rice a red card instead.

“I was left in awe. I didn’t understand how inconsistent the decisions could be,” Arteta said, adding that similar fouls in the earlier stages of the match went unnoticed.

Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka was also furious that a Brighton player kicked the ball away to prevent Arsenal from taking a quick throw-in in the first half and the referee did not penalize it. “We just want some consistency,” Saka echoed Arteta’s words. “Joao Pedro kicked the ball across half the pitch in the first half and got nothing for it. ‘Dec’ only touched her and was expelled.”

This decision changed the course of the match, as the visitors equalized nine minutes later thanks to the aforementioned Joao Pedro and the score remained unchanged until the end of the match, although Arsenal had several chances to score. Arsenal and Brighton were two of the four teams to win their opening two league games.

A draw in their head-to-head gave defending champions Manchester City a chance to go top of the table. “Citizens” have a full nine points after three rounds. FC Liverpool can imitate them if they win on Manchester United’s turf in the early hours of Sunday evening.