Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was shown a controversial, yet explainable, red card against Brighton & Hove Albion in the first outing of the weekend for kicking the ball away and pundit Peter Crouch, perplexed at the decision, compared it to Joao Pedro’s incident when he kicked the ball ’30 or 40 yards’.
The Englishman picked up his second yellow card of the affair and, thus, received his marching orders from referee Chris Kavanagh for kicking the ball away an instant before being kicked himself by Brighton defender Joel Veltman.
Brazilian striker Pedro rescued a point for Fabian Hurzeler’s side in the 58th minute, nine minutes after Rice’s sending off, but Crouch has argued that he should’ve been penalised in the same manner as Rice for his incident earlier in the encounter at the Emirates Stadium.
Crouch Questions Consistency of Refereeing
‘That’s had a much bigger impact than Declan Rice’s one’
When discussing the incident post-match as part of the TNT Sports panel, striker-turned-pundit Crouch believed that Veltman set Rice up to kick the ball away, which led to his second yellow bookable offence.
“I don’t think there is anyone in football that can tell you that they think he’s genuinely trying to play a pass there. He’s tried to put the ball there in the hope that he [Rice] kicks it away and then is bringing it to the referee’s attention the fact that he has kicked it away. And then, he’s got him sent off.”
The pundit was then reminded that players and clubs have been informed that officials are cracking down on those who perform ‘clear and deliberate actions’ that are ‘impactful’ on re-starting play. Crouch replied:
“Well, I’ll show you impactful. That [Rice’s intervention] went one yard and in the first half, Joao Pedro kicked a ball 30 or 40 yards, surely that had more impact than the Declan Rice one.”
|
Arsenal |
Stats |
Brighton |
|---|---|---|
|
36 |
Possession (%) |
64 |
|
7 |
Shots on target |
4 |
|
2 |
Shots off target |
10 |
|
3 |
Yellow cards |
2 |
|
1 |
Red cards |
0 |
|
3 |
Corner kicks |
7 |
Earlier in the game, the goalscoring Pedro – after the ball went on the touchline for a throw-in around the 20-minute mark – kicked the ball further afield to disrupt the flow of the game, much to the dismay of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
“There’s no way in the world that he’s playing that ball other than to slow the game down. If you’re talking impactful, that’s had a much bigger impact than Declan Rice’s one but no one’s brought that to attention.”
Mikel Arteta Slams Officials for ‘No Explanation’
‘The decision changes the game completely’
Incensed by not only the decision but the lack of explanation surrounding Rice’s sending-off, Arteta spoke to TNT Sports after sharing the spoils in north London and suggested that the game’s fortunes changed after the decision.
“We started the game really well. We scored the goal, 1-0. We started the second half really good but then there is the decision that changes the game completely.”
Asked what explanation he had received for Rice’s red card, Arteta added: “None, like always. If it [bookings] happens throughout the game in a consistent way it is fine but it didn’t. It is the inconsistency.” He also mentioned that he was “amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be” in the Premier League.
After the impending international break, the Gunners have a north London derby with Tottenham Hotspur to look forward to on September 15, without the now-suspended Rice, before travelling to the San Siro for their first Champions League clash of the season against Inter Milan.
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