DECLAN RICE admitted he was ‘shocked’ by his controversial sending off against Brighton.
The Arsenal star also apologised to his teammates as the Gunners dropped points in their title race with Manchester City.
Kai Havertz gave the North Londoners a 38th minute lead at the Emirates.
Rice received a yellow card for a strong but late tackle on Joel Veltman just before half time – a challenge Seagulls manager Fabian Hurzeler believed could have been a straight red.
And in the 49th minute, Rice nudged the ball away from Veltman while it was still moving as he tried to take a free-kick – being floored in the process.
But ref Chris Kavanagh deemed it enough for a second yellow – despite allowing Joao Pedro to get away with a similar incident in the first half.
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Pedro went on to equalise with a 58th minute strike as Arsenal held on for a point.
Boss Mikel Arteta said he was “amazed” by the decision from Kavanagh – and criticised the inconsistency shown by the officials.
And Rice – who will now miss the North London Derby against Tottenham on September 15 – said: “I was shocked, I think you could see in my face I was shocked.
“He’s obviously gone over… I’ve not sprinted back in front of him and smashed the ball away. I’ve touched the ball with the outside of my foot, look, this is the law of the game.
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“If you touch the ball away, even a little bit, obviously it’s a red card, after my challenge in the first half – which I fully accept was a 50-50 that I didn’t win.
“But the second-half one, especially with it being in the corner flag, they can’t really progress anywhere from there. It was tough, it was harsh, but it’s one of those things.
“I have to move on from it, I will be better for it and I can only praise the players for digging deep for me and the manager for pushing everyone and the fans as well who were unbelievable again this afternoon. That’s how I see it.”
The dismissal was Rice’s first Prem red card in 245 appearances – and his return will be away at the Etihad to face City on September 22.
He continued: “I just wanted to apologise to my teammates, which I’ve done, and to the fans.
“When you get sent off, it’s never nice, you get a sense of guilt over you, and I was lucky today that my teammates really helped me out and we didn’t lose the game.
“It’s not in my nature really to get red cards, so I’ll learn from it, I’ll see where I can be better, and I’ll be back for sure.”
Rice was forced to watch the rest of the game from the Arsenal dressing room as the hosts almost nicked a win through late chances for Havertz and Bukayo Saka.
Keeper David Raya was also forced to make a string of important saves to deny Brighton a famous victory.
England midfielder Rice added: “I was up off my seat when those big two chances came. Obviously David as well who made another big save for us.
“On another day maybe [Arsenal’s chances] go in, but to even generate those chances shows the desire of the boys.
“In the end is not ideal because we want to win every game, that’s what we strive for and believe we can do.
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“Take the context out of it, we had ten men for 50 minutes, it’s a really strong point.
“We will keep fighting and battling, it’s only been three weeks since the start of the season, and we’re going to keep going in the right direction for sure.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
