Mikel Arteta has bemoaned the red card shown to William Saliba as Arsenal fell to a shock 2-0 defeat away at Bournemouth on Saturday evening.
Arsenal arrived at the South Coast unbeaten but after a bright opening, were given an uphill task as William Saliba was sent off in the 30th minute for dragging down Evanilson as he raced through on goal.
The foul happened some distance away from Arsenal’s box, with Saliba caught out by a dreadful Leandro Trossard pass, and the French defender was shown a yellow card by referee Robert Jones. However, upon VAR review, the decision was upgraded to a red card, leaving Arsenal with an hour to play a man down.
The game turned on that moment, with Bournemouth taking control of the game. In the 70th minute — following a costly miss from Gabriel Martinelli — Ryan Christie opened the scoring, while Justin Kluivert made it 2-0 from the penalty spot nine minutes later.
Mikel Arteta reacts to William Saliba red card
This is the third time in the space of six Premier League matches that Arsenal have had to cope with a red card, with no team in the English top flight receiving more than the Gunners. That said, this one did feel more deserved than the previous two.
Nevertheless, the decision still left Arteta seething, even if he tried his best to keep a lid on his emotions after the match.
“We are obviously very disappointed with the result and gutted because we have to play another game in that context. With 10 men for 60, 65 minutes at this level, it’s just impossible,” Arteta told reporters (via Sky Sports).
On the officials’ decision-making, Arteta continued: “It was a decision made on the pitch. That decision was changed. Now I don’t think the decision is going to change again. So, decision made.
“Willy has never done anything like this but he doesn’t do it on purpose. It happens. We have to accept it, move on, and have that pain we are feeling for Tuesday [against Shakhtar Donestsk].”