Arsenal finally get Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard red card boost as Liverpool decision made

Arsenal news as the Gunners finally see red card decision go their way following a month of referee drama

After weeks of complaints over refereeing decisions, Arsenal have claimed a small win. Following the controversial dismissals of both Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard for second yellow cards given after they kicked the ball away, Mikel Arteta has had some form of comeuppance.

"I'm expecting 100 Premier League games to be, 10 against 11 or nine vs 10 this season," he said in the aftermath of Trossard's second booking changing the flow of their eventual draw with Manchester City last weekend. Feeling that his side had been unfairly receiving treatment from officials regarding the upholding of certain rules, the club have had a laugh of their own.

During a 3-0 defeat for the Under-21s, Liverpool were the team left in disbelief after goalkeeper Harvey Davies was sent off in similar circumstances. Already three ahead, the young shot-stopper saw red with 15 minutes left to go in the game after being punished for time wasting.

Delaying the restart in play, which has now become a buzzword after the Rice and Trossard incidents, Davies left his team a man down for the end of the game. The Reds had to make a change to get another 'keeper onto the pitch and were able to do enough to stop Arsenal from scoring as well.

The choice from a referee even in youth football to make such a call and to send off a player already on a yellow card for the relatively minor offence, may well come as slight retribution for Arsenal. In midweek it was noticeable that Chelsea's Joao Felix also got booked for kicking the ball away during a 5-0 Carabao Cup victory.

Arteta is unlikely to be too enthused by this after letting his feelings be known on Michael Oliver's choice to remove Trossard right on half-time in Manchester. “I want to be involved in a game at this level that puts the game in a situation that we can enjoy and talk about it in the proper way," he said afterwards. "We’re not talking about that.”

READ MORE: Why Ben White missed Arsenal vs Leicester as Arteta injury crisis continues

READ MORE: Former Arsenal striker dies aged 46 in tragic futsal incident

As well as fundamentally disagreeing with the decision, which saw Trossard punished for booting the ball away extremely quickly after conceding a foul, Arteta lamented that lack of consistency. Against Brighton he had already seen Joao Pedro go unpunished for smashing the ball downfield after it had gone out of play, whilst Jeremy Doku was the centre of attention against City.

The Belgian winger appeared to be passing the ball back to where Oliver had instructed Arsenal to take a free kick, but the incident was nevertheless picked up by Arteta, who vented his frustration. " "That's what I'm saying," he said when questioned about it.

This decision in youth football is unlikely to turn the tide and make up for what has come in the past four weeks for Arsenal. However, having felt like the only club around being punished it does show that referees may well be open to continuing the trend of ruthless red cards relating to play restarts.

Join the football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel

Join our Arsenal WhatsApp channel and get all the latest breaking news, opinion, podcasts and in-depth stories from football.london's dedicated Arsenal writers straight to your phone!

By following this free service you will be the first to know the news from the Emirates Stadium as it happens, when it happens.

To join our dedicated Arsenal channel, all you have to do is click this link and you can join thousands of others following our Gunners coverage!

If you're curious, you can check out our privacy policy here.