After Declan Rice was given a second caution for the same offence, and Brighton forward Joao Pedro avoided a yellow card, Arsenal supporters became enraged at referee Chris Kavanagh.

At the Emirates, Mikel Arteta’s team trailed 1-0 four minutes into the second half and were reduced to 10 men. Brighton then equalised to force a 1-1 draw.

After receiving his first caution for a late challenge on Joel Veltman just before halftime, Rice got into another fight with the Dutch defender that resulted in his ejection.

Veltman attempted to swiftly take the free-kick, but Rice nudged it out of play. Brighton had been granted the kick.

After that, Veltman slid past Rice, but referee Kavanagh saw the Arsenal midfielder’s cunning move and dismissed him.

In the first half, there was another instance of disapproval, but the referee did nothing.

In the eighteenth minute, Pedro, a 22-year-old star for the Seagulls, tried to break away down the left wing but was unable to maintain the ball in play.

However, he fired the ball down the pitch towards Gunners keeper David Raya after it had gone out.

The Arsenal players were furious, but Kavanagh did not consider it a foul.

After that, Arsenal fans vented their fury on X following the departure of Rice.

“Everyone is pretending Rice deserved a second yellow for that,” one person stated. Officiating was pathetic beyond belief. Again, double standards.

“Joao Pedro did the same thing in a way more aggressive way in the first half and didn’t get a card.”

Another said, “Pedro did the exact same thing but 10x worse and the ref didn’t even think about carding him 😭😭😭.”

“What about Joao Pedro in the first half?” a third person retorted. Nothing more than unfair disparities.”

A fourth person retorted, “Yellow card for kicking away the ball.” There are always two sets of rules in the Premier League: Joao Pedro should have received the same treatment in the first half, and Veltman should have received at least a yellow card.”

A fifth person asked, “Where’s Pedro’s yellow card for booting the ball across the pitch following a foul?

You CANNOT give Rice one if you don’t give that one. egregious disparities in standards.”

Arteta’s perspectiveThe manager of Arsenal, Arteta, also shared his thoughts on the reliability of the game’s officials.

“The decision changes the game completely,” he stated.

It would be acceptable if it occurred consistently throughout the game, but it didn’t.

There were several times in the first half when they booted the ball away, but nothing happened. It’s a lack of consistency.

“Especially because it’s in a non-critical location. You have to award someone a red card because you made that call.

“We had to use ten players. Veltman received a red card, so if we had to play with 10, they also had to play with 10.

In response to a question about whether he had received an explanation for Rice’s dismissal, he said, “No, none-like always.”

Pedro and Kavanagh argued, and in the 96th minute, Pedro was eventually booked.