Furious Arteta slams 'inconsistent decisions' after Rice's sending off that cost Arsenal | Arsenal

A furious Mikel Arteta admitted he was “shocked by how inconsistent decisions can be” after Declan Rice was sent off for Arsenal. They lost their first points of the new season against Brighton.

Arsenal looked set to maintain their 100% form at the start of the new season when Bukayo Saka capitalised on a mistake from Lewis Dunk to set up Kai Havertz. But an incident early in the second half, when Rice – who had never been sent off before in his career and will now miss the north London derby against Tottenham after the international break – was shown a second yellow card by referee Chris Kavanagh after he was adjudged to have obstructed Joël Veltman as he attempted to take a free-kick, completely altered the momentum of the game.

João Pedro equalised to keep Brighton unbeaten under Fabian Hürzeler. However, Arteta said he was surprised by Kavanagh's decision not to take any action against Veltman for touching Rice and for another incident in the first half when Pedro kicked the ball away.

“I was shocked. Shocked, shocked, shocked by how inconsistent decisions can be,” he said.

“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.

“According to the law, you can make that decision, but then, according to the law, you have to make the next decision, which is a red card, so we played 10 against 10. That's what surprised me. At this level, it's unbelievable.”

Rice said afterwards that he was “shocked… I think you could see it on my face. But that’s the way the game is. If you touch the ball, even a little bit, you get a red card after my tackle in the first half. It was tough, it was tough, but I’ve got to get over it.”

Hürzeler, the 31-year-old who replaced Roberto De Zerbi in the Brighton dugout this summer, felt Kavanagh had made the right decision. “For me it was a clear red card,” he said. “He shoots the ball wide, it's a waste of time.”

Arsenal still had a chance to take all three points but Havertz and Saka missed their opportunities late on and Arteta's side now face the prospect of a trip to Tottenham without Rice and new signing Mikel Merino, who injured his shoulder in his first training session this week. “This is what happens. We have to adapt to that context,” said the Arsenal boss.

“That's why we have other players who can fulfill that (role) and give that opportunity to someone else.

“But the team responded to what we had to do playing at home with 10 men. We didn’t want to be so deep in defence, but we read the game and played the game we had to play and we should have got the reward.”