ARSENAL fans continue to protest Declan Rice’s controversial red card against Brighton after new footage emerged.
Rice, 25, was shown a second yellow in the 49th minute for delaying a restart on Saturday at the Emirates.
And now a new camera angle shows Brighton star Danny Welbeck complaining that his opponent should be shown another card – and performing a gesture to the referee to make his point.
Former Arsenal ace Welbeck is heard saying: “It’s a second yellow.”
Rules state that a player should be cautioned if they tell the ref to book a rival player, however it is not certain that the ex-England international was addressing referee Chris Kavanagh directly.
Arsenal fans took to social media and complained that Welbeck should have also been booked for that.
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One supporter tweeted: “Right in front of him [Kavanagh] as well.”
Another posted: “Danny Welbeck demanded the referee give Rice a second yellow, which is a booking in itself if we’re following ‘the law of the game’.”
A third wrote: “HMMMMMMMM.”
This one said: “But isn’t that an offence in itself?”
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And that one stated: “Isn’t asking referee for a yellow card a yellow card offense?”
Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey described Rice’s dismissal as wrong and said it was a “poor decision” by Kavanagh.
Halsey wrote on his SunSport column: “However, the ball was rolling when Brighton’s Joel Veltman took the free-kick, so the restart would not have taken place as it would have been wrong in Law.
“Therefore, the delaying a restart does not apply. Kavanagh went looking for trouble and he found it.
“A referee of his calibre at this level should not be sending players off for this. He should have managed the situation better by speaking to both players.
“Rice should have received a final warning for flicking the ball away and Veltman was also lucky to escape punishment for kicking the England star.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
