Arsenal Brighton draw

Declan Rice sent off as Arsenal and Brighton draw.



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After Declan Rice's contentious second-half dismissal, Brighton held on for a point at the Emirates on Saturday, spoiling Arsenal's winning start to the new Premier League season.  

After being wonderfully sent in by Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz scored brilliantly in the 38th minute to give Arsenal a well-deserved lead at the break.

But four minutes into the second half, Rice received a second yellow card for delaying a Brighton free kick by kicking the ball away, which made Arsenal's task even more difficult.  

The decision angered the home crowd, who thought that Rice, an Arsenal midfielder, would be penalized for kicking Brighton defender Joël Veltman as he tapped the ball out of his way.

An hour later, Brazilian forward Joao Pedro tied the score for Brighton. Each team had to settle for a point because they each blew away late opportunities to win the game.

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Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, said to TNT Sports, "We started the game well." "We won 1-0. That was our goal. We had a great start to the second half, then there's a decision that throws the entire game off.

"It's okay if the second yellow card occurs consistently throughout the game, but it didn't. It's the inconsistency.”

Arsenal had kicked out the new term in fine form, having only just missed out on winning their first Premier League title since 2004 the previous season.

Given that champions Manchester City have already started the new season with two victories from two, Arsenal is aware that any mistake they make, especially at this early stage, might have serious consequences. 



After an impressive first half, they looked certain to keep their perfect record. Before Havertz scored his second goal of the season, captain Martin Ødegaard ought to have opened the scoring earlier.

The visitors gained the upper hand thanks to Rice's second yellow.

Arsenal has received 16 red cards in the Premier League since Boxing Day 2019, which was Mikel Arteta's first game in charge of the team. This is at least three more than any other team. However, it marked Rice's first red card in 245 Premier League games.

Pedro reacted first when Yankuba Minteh's shot was saved to tie Brighton after his last-gasp goal against Manchester United the previous weekend, and the game opened up from there.

Saka had a late chance to steal the victory, and Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya had to save numerous chances to deny Brighton all three points, but both teams appeared happy with a draw following a thrilling battle.

Lewis Dunk, the captain of Brighton, stated, "We will go away and look at it. We didn't create enough chances when they went down to 10 men."

"We always think we can win football games. We believe we can defeat anyone and we are in a terrific situation."




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