‘He’s played the referee and it’s worked’: Peter Crouch explains theatrics behind Declan Rice’s red card

Peter Crouch says that Joel Veltman hoodwinked the referee in order to convince him to dismiss Declan Rice in Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Brighton at the Emirates Stadium.

Rice had collected a yellow card in the first half for a heavy tackle on Veltman and received a second for kicking the ball away as the Brighton defender attempted to take a quick free kick in the second half.

Speaking as a pundit on TNT Sports former Liverpool striker Crouch was convinced that Veltman had bought an offence from Rice which changed the outcome of the match.

“Everyone who’s played football understands what’s happened there,” said Crouch, “Veltman’s quite simply played the referee, there’s no way he’s trying to play a pass 60-yards to nobody, he’s trying to get Declan Rice into trouble, he knows he’s on a yellow card and it’s worked.

“That’s been the difference in the game.

“Having said that, Rice does nick the ball away and to the letter of the law that is a yellow card. Veltman’s definitely played the referee but having said that he’s kicked the ball away and has to go.”

Fellow pundit and former Arsenal defender Martin Keown agreed with the assessment and added that the Gunners will be pleased with holding out for a point despite dropping two points in a potential title race.

Keown said: “Why is Veltman knocking the ball into Rice’s path and where is he supposed to go? The principle of the new law is to move people away from the ball but the referee has a responsibility to keep both sets of 11 players on the pitch and I don’t feel that that is a sending off offence.

“I think if you look overall, down to 10-men and a rampant Brighton team, you’d think okay they’ve salvaged something.

“But when you’re up against Man City you have to be perfect every week. The game was there for Arsenal to win and obviously Declan Rice going off played a massive part in this game. It became all about Brighton.

“There were good signs, Arsenal played well today, Brighton are a good team but the referee played a major part in this match.”

Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta, was asked about the red card and lamented the inconsistency in the referee’s decision making. He said: “We started the game really good, created three or four chances. We scored the goal 1-0, then obviously there’s the decision that changes the game completely.”

When asked if he had received an explanation for the sending off, Arteta replied: “None. Like always.

“If this happens throughout the game in a consistent way the it’s fine but it didn’t happen. In the first half there were a number of occasions where they kicked the ball away and nothing happened. It’s inconsistency.”