Arsenal fans will be furious as Howard Webb doubles down on Declan Rice red card vs Brighton

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Howard Webb and Declan Rice (Photos by Tom Dulat and Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Arsenal fans will not be at all happy to see PGMOL chief and former Premier League referee Howard Webb defending the decision to send Declan Rice off in the recent game against Brighton.

The England international was shown a second yellow for kicking the ball away and delaying the restart, though many Arsenal fans and indeed neutrals feel it was a wildly over-the-top decision by Chris Kavanagh, who also let a similar incident from Brighton player Pedro slide in the same game.

Rice ended up being suspended for the North London Derby in what could have been a costly absence for Arsenal, though in the end they still won that game 1-0, even if they couldn’t find a way to get the winner in that game against Brighton, which finished 1-1.

See below as Webb explains why he feels Kavanagh got this controversial call right, despite so much widespread criticism of the decision…

Arsenal fans will no doubt feel they deserve a better response than this, but one imagines there will be fans from all teams who feel similarly aggrieved over the course of the season.

Referees need to make sure they’re not overreacting, or indeed missing important decisions, but it is also surely important for them not to back down too much just because certain individuals might make a lot of noise about specific incidents.

Arsenal are back in action in the Champions League tonight as they take on Atalanta, while they’ll be up against Manchester City in a Premier League title race six-pointer this weekend.

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3 Comments

  1. 1/ Its debatable that Rice committed a foul a few seconds before as in the video. 2/ Rice had his back to the other player trying to take free kick. 3/ Ref should of warned Rice to stand away so Quick kick could be taken. 4/ Refs in the 4 top leagues Must be consistent as player earlier in game did the same but was not booked?. = Dire VAR REF , ……………………. from a Bluenose.

  2. Yes, by the letter of the law, Dec “had to go.” I wish Kavanagh and the VAR official discussed Veltman’s actions leading up to this. Veltman was clearly trying to get Rice sent off and the referee was only too happy to oblige. By the letter of the law, Veltman properly put the ball in play when he kicked it forward. I think this could have been resolved differently recognizing the spirit of the law.

  3. This has got to be the longest whinge since the bodyline series! Get over it! The ref’s decision is final…. isn’t that what we were all told at primary school?

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