Arsenal expert Charles Watts has slammed the “farcical” Declan Rice red card that we saw against Brighton at the weekend.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, Watts made it clear he felt it was a massive overreaction in a generally poor refereeing performance from Chris Kavanagh, and that we will almost certainly not see that kind of decision being made again this season.
Rice took the decision surprisingly well, refusing to complain too much about it after the game, even if Mikel Arteta was clearly far from happy, while Bukayo Saka also spoke publicly to ask for more consistency from referees.
It’s a massive blow for Arsenal as they ended up only drawing 1-1 with Brighton, and it also means Rice will also miss the upcoming North London Derby with rivals Tottenham.
“It was a really frustrating day for Arsenal on Saturday against Brighton. It was a game they should have won and a game I think they would have won pretty comfortably had Declan Rice not have been sent off,” Watts said.
“Arsenal were firmly in command of the game before the red card, even if they had not exactly been at their best during the first half.
“But Rice’s dismissal completely changed things and I honestly think it was a laughable decision from the referee. I’ve seen lots of talk since that Chris Kavanagh had ‘no other choice’ and by the ‘letter of the law’ Rice had to go.
“Was Rice a bit stupid to do what he did? Yes. But we will see that sort of thing countless times this season and I guarantee that we will never see a player sent off for it again.
“It was just a ridiculous decision from an over zealous official who was consistently awful throughout the 90 minutes. One that not only left Arsenal with 10 men for half of the contest, but also robbed them of their most important midfielder for the north London derby after the international break.
“It was farcical to be honest and I just don’t understand how anyone can look at what happened and think the right decision was made.”
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