- Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw with Brighton after Joao Pedro’s equaliser
- Hosts were reduced to 10 men after Declan Rice was sent off for two bookings
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Arsenal supporters are raging over refereeing double standards in their 1-1 draw with Brighton after Joao Pedro escaped a booking for kicking the ball away – before Declan Rice was controversially sent off in a similar incident.
Rice was dismissed in the second half after being adjudged by referee Chris Kavanagh to have knocked the ball away as the visitors looked to take a quick free-kick inside their own half, reducing Mikel Arteta‘s side to 10 men.
Brighton duly capitalised on their numerical advantage to clinch a point at the Emirates, Pedro tucking home after David Raya parried Yankuba Minteh’s strike.
The home crowd were audibly infuriated throughout much of the second half and felt aggrieved with the decision to hand Rice his marching orders on 49 minutes.
Rice was shown his first yellow card in the opening period for a heavy challenge on Joel Veltman and later walked after delaying a restart, the Premier League said.
Arsenal supporters fumed after Joao Pedro escaped a booking for kicking the ball away
Declan Rice was shown a second yellow for a similar incident during the 1-1 draw with Brighton
Piling on the misery, Pedro went on to score the equaliser for the visitors in the second half
Mikel Arteta called for greater consistency in officiating post-match and pointed to an incident which saw Pedro boot the ball down the touchline after losing control on a breakaway. Unsurprisingly, fans were also quick to highlight the discrepancy.
Sharing a clip of the moment broadcast live on TNT Sports, an Arsenal-dedicated X account said: ‘Joao Pedro in the first-half, kicks the ball miles. No yellow card. I have no words.’
‘Ref singlehandedly destroyed the game,’ a user replied.
Taking aim at the referees’ body, another added: ‘One of the worst officiated games I’ve ever seen @PGMOL. Kavanagh absolutely horrendous.’
‘Seriously, man! This ref robbed us,’ said another. ‘Brighton 12th man on the field.’
One supporter criticised Rice for his part in his sending-off, however, writing: ‘Yep he should’ve gotten one but it doesn’t excuse Declan’s idiocy. He cost us today and maybe next week [the north London derby against Tottenham] too.’
Rice was stunned after being handed his marching orders by referee Chris Kavanagh
Several Arsenal X accounts shared their irritation with the double standards in officiating
On Rice’s red card, Arteta said: ‘I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be.
‘In the first half, there are two incidents and nothing happens.
‘Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan [on the back of his leg], he turns around, he doesn’t see the player coming and he touches the ball.
‘By law, he can make that call, but then by law he needs to make the next call, which is red card so we play 10 vs. 10. This is what amazed me. At this level it’s amazing.’
