Declan Rice avoided a red card after appearing to kick out at Malick Yalcouye during Arsenal's 3-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. Footage from the match appears to show him lashing out at his opponent off the ball just before referee Darren England blew the full-time whistle.
Rice, 27, was shown a yellow card in the seventh minute of second-half added time for what is deemed unsportsmanlike conduct. All but one of the five bookings during the game were for that offence.
Incident draws comparisons to Foden red card
There are parallels between Rice's incident and the circumstances that led to Phil Foden being sent off in the Manchester derby last weekend. It was the match's final act that sparked the greatest controversy, with Rice appearing to lash out in an off-the-ball incident. The pair had been involved in an innocuous tussle, but as Yalcouye moved past Rice, the England international deliberately went out of his way to kick the Brighton player.
Social media users were quick to question the decision. @ZakLFC7 posted on X: "How's this any different to Foden then?" @cam_nufc claimed: "It should be a red card for violent conduct, three-match ban, and he walks away with a yellow." @cxllumlfc100 said: "Might not be harmful, but he's literally got angry and kicked out at someone. It's a textbook red card."
Potential ban avoided
Had Rice been dismissed, the midfielder would have faced a three-match ban in the Premier League. That would have begun with a home fixture against Leeds United. Following that, the Gunners head to Nottingham Forest before hosting Everton at Emirates Stadium in what would have been the concluding game of his suspension. Instead, Rice will remain eligible for selection.
It represents one less worry for manager Mikel Arteta, though the Spanish tactician will still have nearly a month to dwell on this setback before Arsenal are back in action. Speaking after the match, Arteta remarked: "A really disappointing result and performance. Brighton were another gear up from us. We were extremely poor technically and not respecting the game."
"Credit to Brighton. They went up another gear. It's a big lesson to learn. It doesn't take away from what the team has done the last few weeks. But now we have to make sure we learn the lesson because this can happen again."
