Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was left fuming at what he called inconsistent refereeing after Declan Rice's sending off changed the course of a game that ended in a <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2024/08/31/arsenal-settle-for-point-against-brighton-after-harsh-declan-rice-red-card/" target="_blank">1-1 draw against Brighton</a> on Saturday. Arsenal were 1-0 up and looked in control when Rice was shown a second yellow card in the 49th minute for nudging the ball to the side as Joel Veltman tried to take a quick free-kick near the sideline deep inside Brighton's half. Veltman kicked Rice from behind in the process and the home crowd was screaming for the Brighton player to be punished, only for referee Chris Kavanagh to show Rice a red card instead. “I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed, because of how inconsistent decisions can be,” Arteta said, arguing that similar offences went unpunished earlier in the game. “By law he [Kavanagh] can make the call. But by law then he needs to make the next call, which is red card [for Veltman]. So we play 10 against 10.” Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka also pointed to Pedro escaping without a booking for kicking the ball away much more forcefully in the first half to prevent Arsenal taking a quick throw-in. “We just want some consistency,” Saka said. “Joao Pedro booted the ball halfway across the pitch in the first half and got nothing for it and Dec got the slightest touch and was sent off.” That decision turned the game completely and Joao Pedro equalised from a rebound in the 58th after David Raya had saved a shot from Yankuba Minteh. Kai Havertz had put Arsenal ahead in the 38th with a lob over goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen and had a chance to restore Arsenal's lead when he ran through on goal again in the 74th but his low shot was saved that time. Fabian Hurzeler, 31, continued his unbeaten start to life as Brighton manager and rejected claims Pedro could have been booked in the first half. “For me, clear red card. He shoots the ball away. It is wasting time,” Hurzeler said. “You can’t compare I think these two situations. The first with Joel, it is clear. It is a free kick so it is a static situation. “The other is much more like a dynamic situation. It was not even clear out [of play], so he tried to keep the ball in the game. Please, never compare these two situations because in football two situations never are the same.” Both teams have taken seven points from three games. Arsenal's are back in action in the North London derby at Tottenham Hotspur next Sunday, that Rice will now miss due through suspension, while Brighton are at home to Ipswich Town on Saturday.