Mikel Arteta’s side will be hugely disappointed that they have already dropped points this Premier League season, especially considering how they paid in the first half.
Despite Brighton’s best attempts to disrupt the midfield three of Arsenal’s by flooding the middle of the park with bodies, the Gunners were able to find the breakthrough after a direct piece of play.
Unexpectedly winning a high ball against Lewis Dunk, Bukayo Saka played the ball into the path of Kai Havertz with the German finishing with a cute chip over the goalkeeper.
But disaster struck just after the break when Rice received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away before Joel Veltman had a chance to take his free-kick.
The momentum then flipped with Joao Pedro grabbing the equaliser shortly after as the game petered out to a 1-1 draw.
After the game, Saka pointed to an earlier incident where the Brighton striker also delayed the restart but in a more egregious manner and was not punished for it.
Peter Crouch on Declan Rice’s red
Speaking on the TNT panel, Liverpool legend Crouch also shared this opinion and questioned the consistencies of the referee’s calls.
“That [ball] went one yard [after Rice’s touch] but in the first half, Joao Pedro kicked the ball 30, 40 yards [away].” He said.
“Surely that had more impact than the Declan Rice one. There’s no way in the world he’s playing that ball other than to slow the game down That’s had a much bigger impact than Declan Rice’s one.”
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