While Brighton & Hove Albion held Arsenal, Declan Rice received a dubious sending-off.

The moment when referee Chris Kavanagh did not book Joao Pedro following Declan Rice’s contentious red card has been identified by Arsenal supporters.

Arsenal’s perfect start to the 24/25 Premier League season was ended on Saturday afternoon at the Emirates Stadium with a 1-1 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion.

In the 38th minute, Kai Havertz’s fantastic lob gave Mikel Arteta’s team a 1-0 lead at the interval.

But after Rice was shown a second yellow card, Arsenal were down to 10 men at the beginning of the second half.

Replays revealed that Brighton star Joel Veltman had unintentionally kicked the Gunners midfielder, which first infuriated the supporters.

Then it was discovered that Rice had actually shoved the ball out of the Brighton defender’s possession in an attempt to stall the restart.

After that, the Premier League issued a statement providing a formal justification for Rice’s second yellow card.

Arsenal supporters criticised referee Kavanagh for not booking Pedro of Brighton in the first half when the Brazilian booted the ball away after it had gone out of play. This was done in response to Pedro’s red card.

One fan responded on social media by saying, “Yeah, that’s the main problem here.” Continuity!

“Double standards huh,” said a second tweeter.

“Those are the standards of the epl,” a third enthusiast said.

Another person, though, stated: “He’s not stopping our players from attempting free kicks; different circumstances

Rice did something really dumb on both cards.

“The ball was out of play already in that one,” another person said.

Declan Rice is skilled at what he does, according to former England defender Stephen Warnock, who discussed the incident on BBC Radio 5 Live. After giving it a quick glance and pushing the ball aside, the challenge is presented.

“You’re asking the referee to decide right then and there. Why would you stand over the ball in that manner?

Bukayo Saka, an Arsenal player, stated: “I felt that was a little too harsh for us.” All we need is some regularity. In the first half, Joao Pedro booted the ball halfway across the pitch and received no penalty, but Dec received a red card for the smallest touch.

We still had a chance to win, so I don’t want to blame the referee for the entire game. It’s off to a solid start. It is a long season, but today is disappointing.