Arsenal 1:1 Brighton: Mikel Arteta argues that Joel Veltman should have been shown the red card after the incident with Rice – “That is inconsistent”

Mikel Arteta argued that Joel Veltman should have been sent off in the controversial incident that led to Declan Rice being sent off in Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Brighton.

Kai Havertz opened the scoring for the hosts with a superb lob in the first half and Joao Pedro equalised just before the hour mark after Rice was shown a red card in the 49th minute.

The England international pushed the ball close to the visitors' corner flag following a Brighton free kick and Veltman flew between Rice's legs a moment later.

The Arsenal midfielder received a second yellow card shortly afterwards, but Arteta stressed that the booking showed a lack of consistency and that Veltman should have received a similar punishment.

“If that happens regularly throughout the game, it's fine,” Arteta told TNT Sports. “But that didn't happen the first time. There were several occasions where they kicked the ball away. Nothing happened.”

“So it's an inconsistency, especially because it's also an area that's not critical. And besides, when you make that call, you have to [Veltman] also a red card.

“They have to play with 10 and we had to play with 10, they had to play with 10 because Veltman got a red card.”

But in his overall assessment of the game, Arteta was pleased with the way his team recovered from the defeat and had great chances in the second half through Havertz and Bukayo Saka that could have even secured the win.

Arteta said: “I thought we started the game really well and created three or four big chances. Then we had a phase where we lost too many balls and didn't have enough control of the game.”

“We scored the goal, the 1-0, and started the second half really well in the first few moments, gained momentum, and then of course a decision came that completely changed the game.

“But it was incredible how the team reacted, because even with only ten men from the 49th minute onwards we should have won the game.”

On the opposite side, Fabian Hurzeler admitted that Veltman could have been shown a yellow card for his involvement in the sending off, but was dissatisfied with the length of injury time at the end of the game.

“I saw that he [Rice] “I kicked the ball away, so for me that's a clear yellow card,” said Hurzeler. “At the referee meeting we were taught that the time the goalkeeper or the players need will be added to the extra time after the game.

“I didn’t understand how many minutes the goalkeeper lost in this game and why we only had six minutes.

“You can be more sensitive in this regard [red card] Situation, I completely agree. But in the end he made that decision. You can look at it differently, we have to be honest.

“We could also say it's a yellow card for our player. I have no problem openly discussing the referee's decisions.”

“In the end, we have to honestly say that it is our fault that we did not win the game.”