Mikel Arteta, speaking after Arsenal's 2-2 draw at Manchester City: "We were more efficient and went 2-1 up and then there were two incidents, very similar, one in particular, but had a very different outcome which then forces you to have a game which nobody wants to watch"
Monday 23 September 2024 10:56, UK
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was furious with referee Michael Oliver's decision to send Leandro Trossard off for kicking the ball away in the 2-2 draw with Manchester City - adding it is "really, really worrying" to see multiple red cards for these offences.
The Gunners were heading into half-time with a 2-1 comeback lead at the Etihad Stadium when Trossard - already on a booking for a foul on Savinho - was shown a second yellow card for fouling Bernardo Silva, then kicking the ball away.
Arsenal felt aggrieved not only due to the harshness of the punishment - but also due to the fact that City winger Jeremy Doku went unpunished for a similar incident earlier in the game.
It was the second time Arsenal have been on the receiving end of this second yellow card offence, with Declan Rice sent off against Brighton on August 31 in a similar incident.
Arteta said he was "amazed" after that Rice call - as, like Doku, Brighton forward Joao Pedro earlier went unpunished for kicking the ball away - and believes the game against City became a contest that "nobody wants to watch" after Trossard saw red.
"We were more efficient and went 2-1 up and then there were two incidents, very similar, one in particular, but had a very different outcome which then forces you to have a game which nobody wants to watch," said Arteta.
"I think it's very clear. Very obvious. Hopefully what 100 per cent of what people thinks. It's not my job to come here and judge what happened. My job is to survive in the most difficult environment you can throw in football for 55 minutes. And try to get things done to survive. That's my job, the rest is not my job.
"It's already the second time it has happened in five games, which is really, really worrying if we want to see the best Premier League."
Arteta was unhappy with the small amount of time between Oliver blowing his whistle for the foul and Trossard kicking the ball away, as he felt the Belgian did not have a chance to react to it.
Referee Oliver was also a figure of controversy when Arsenal and City met for the first time last season, when the official failed to send off Mateo Kovacic at the Emirates Stadium despite two very rough challenges, including one when the Croatian was already booked.
"Anyone that has played football or any sport [can see] it's less than a second. Less than a second. The previous one [Doku] is more than a second. That's it, simple," he said.
The red card left Arsenal with an "impossible" task - according to Arteta - to keep out City at the Etihad Stadium with 10 players. John Stones eventually scored a stoppage-time equaliser after a half of valiant defending from the Gunners, and Arteta admitted pride in his team despite two more dropped points.
"It's impossible," said Arteta about the challenge his team had in the second half.
"It's very hard already against 11 players, impossible. Because we are put under pressure to defend with six in our box time and time and time after time. That's it."
Sky Sports' Roy Keane:
"If I was on a yellow card, you try not to give the referee the chance to give you another yellow. He's given him the perfect opportunity.
"So you barge into someone and then you kick the ball away. It's not even a debate. You don't need to watch it 30 times. It's wrong, it's a second yellow and it's the height of stupidity."
Sky Sports' Paul Merson:
"Trossard is a good footballer, he has a good brain. If he was playing in real time and in a game, he sidefoots the ball out to (Gabriel) Martinelli, he doesn't kick it with his laces.
"He has heard the whistle, he's kicked it, he knows what he's doing."
Man City boss Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, had his own complaints about referee Oliver with controversy surrounding Arsenal's first goal.
After Thomas Partey had been fouled near the centre circle, Oliver called City defender Kyle Walker for a conversation - and Arsenal took a quick free-kick while the City captain was getting back into position.
Walker felt he was unfairly caught out as Arsenal countered, with Riccardo Calafiori scoring a superb equaliser for the Gunners in the same attack. As Arsenal celebrated, Guardiola turned to his bench and kicked his dugout in frustration.
"I was [angry] with Kyle, but Kyle was right: the referee asked him to come to talk to him with the other ones," Guardiola told Sky Sports.
"When the referee said 'come and talk to me', make sure we leave him to come back into the position, because next time, we're not going to talk to them."
City defender John Stones, meanwhile, took issue with Arteta's Arsenal slowing the game down in the second period. The Gunners continuously stopped play and with players going down for apparent cramp and injuries, which resulted in over nine minutes of second-half stoppage time.
Asked about Arsenal's 'dark arts', Stones said: "I wouldn't say they've mastered it. They've been doing it for a few years.
"You can call it clever and dirty, whichever way you call it, it upsets the rhythm for everyone. They use it for their advantage. We controlled our emotions really well.
"They made it difficult for us being so deep and having so many people around the box. It will be something we have to review."
Asked about Arsenal's style of play, Guardiola replied: "Maybe I would have done the same. You have to ask to Mikel what are the tactics."
