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New Arsenal vs Leicester referee red card verdict will leave Mikel Arteta furious

Mikel Arteta during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Leicester City
-Credit: (Image: (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))


"Let's see." That was the response from Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta when asked about the red card for Leandro Trossard against Manchester City for kicking the ball away.

Arteta actually described it as "passing the ball away" having seen his team reduced to ten men for the second time in three weeks for the same thing. Declan Rice having been sent off against Brighton for a second ywllow card for delaying a quick free-kick.

Arteta said after the Man City game: "It’s that obvious that it’s not necessary for me to comment. It’s the second time. I’m [now] expecting 100 Premier League games to be played as 10 against 11, or 10 against nine. Let’s see."

The Arsenal boss will have seen first hand on Saturday and will have been apoplectic. Wilfried Ndidi kicked the ball away after Bukayo Saka was fouled at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday as Arsenal beat Leicester City 4-2.

He will be even more so now, after a former referee's verdict on the matter. Ndidi was not responsible for the foul, but did follow up by kicking the ball - not very far it should be added - away from Saka, who was on the ground.

Arsenal supporters were quick to point to the incident, given their history already this season. Ndidi was booked in the match and this would have been a second yellow, like those for Rice and Trossard. But former referee Dermot Gallagher, who appears every week on Sky Sports' Ref Watch show, did not think it should be a red card, despite believing Rice and Trossard were correct to be carded.

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He said: "He doesn't stop or delay the restart. There's no one there that can possibly take a free-kick. Saka's on the floor, can't take it, there's not an Arsenal player anywhere near him.

"If you really want players yellow carded for that we're going to have a lot of players sat in the stands suspended this season."

Arteta will say that is the exact point he made, yet it has not been followed through.