Well, it was bound to happen, maybe just not so dramatically. Arsenal drop points after drawing 1-1 with Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates Stadium. There is only one place to start, Declan Rice’s 2nd yellow, leading to his dismissal, in minute 47.

It began right before halftime when Declan Rice took a heavy touch in midfield, lost the ball, went into a 50/50 challenge with a Brighton player and took him out hastily, leading to a booking. At this point, Rice should’ve know to take the aggressiveness down a couple of notches and not partake in any shithousery whatsoever. Mikel Arteta had to have reminded him of this at halftime too. Unfortunately, Rice didn’t internalize the message and made a terrible decision in minute 49 when he was called for a foul, stood too close to the Brighton free-kick and was kicked in the shin by Joel Veltman. Referee Chris Kavanagh only took a few seconds before showing Rice his 2nd yellow of the game, resulting in his sending off, and triggering a 1-game suspension, the North London Derby on September, 15th. A total boneheaded play by Declan Rice. He’s far too important to the team to be messing around like this.

Looking into the actual rules, they state, “until the ball is in play all opponents must remain at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from the ball, unless they are on their own goal line between the goalposts.” Furthermore, “if, when a free kick is taken, an opponent is closer to the ball than the required distance, the kick is retaken unless the advantage can be applied; but if a player takes a free kick quickly and an opponent who is less than 9.15 m (10 yds) from the ball intercepts it, the referee allows play to continue. However, an opponent who deliberately prevents a free kick being taken quickly must be cautioned for delaying the restart of play.”

The last section is what caused Chris Kavanagh to show Declan Rice his 2nd yellow card. It’s a huge bummer because it was very avoidable and totally changed the game, negatively, for Arsenal. Nothing could’ve been gained by Rice for doing what he did.

Weirdly, after the match, there was a lot of discussion about the referee doing a bad job and the rules being applied inconsistently. Listen, it does no good to argue about it, as it paints the fans, players and coach as cry babies. The rules are pretty damn clear about giving the free-kick taker plenty of room, even if he takes it quickly. Rice knows this and tried to pull a fast one, it backfired spectacularly. Case closed.

Up to the sending off Arsenal had control over the match and were leading 1-0 via a Kai Havertz chip (38′), assisted by Bukayo Saka. From kick-off Saka was getting forward very easily, beating the Brighton left-back Jack Hinshelwood and creating chances. Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler noticed this and quickly adjusted, within the opening 20 minutes, by doubling him. This led to Leandro Trossard seeing more of the ball and created the best chance of the game for Martin Ødegaard, who didn’t connect with the ball like he wanted to and hit it right at GK Bart Verbruggen. Looking back, a goal could’ve made a huge difference. From here, Brighton grew into the game creating a couple of chances, mostly through Kaoru Mitoma on the left. One of these chances happened when Havertz headed the ball back towards his goal, right into the path of Mitoma, who took a shot that went just wide. At halftime, the Gunners led 1-0.

The 2nd half had barely started when Mikel Arteta had to scrap his entire gameplan after going down to 10-men. The team survived for about 8 minutes before Yakuba Minteh found space and made a run between William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães. Splitting them and forcing David Raya into a save that rebounded back into play, right into the path of João Pedro, who scored easily. At this point, Arsenal were on the back foot just trying to withstand the waves of attack by Brighton. Riccardo Calafiori subbed on for Leandro Trossard in an effort to shore up the defense, who went with a back-5. This tactical change worked out well, as the Gunners didn’t concede a 2nd goal but only created a chance or two going forward for the last 30 minutes of the match.

One of the few chances created saw Martin Ødegaard on the ball in the middle of the park with Riccardo Calafiori streaking down the left and no one near him. Regrettably, the pass was intercepted and the danger passed quickly. Another chance had Kai Havertz getting behind the Brighton defense with his speed, but the shot was saved. The last good attack saw Havertz going down the right and fizzing in a low-cross towards Bukayo Saka, who made a run into the box. His shot was on target but without much force behind it, making for an easy save.

While Brighton had a man advantage for most of the 2nd half, they didn’t do much with it. Their best chance came when Jan Paul van Hecke’s long-range shot was blocked and fell into the path of Georginio Rutter, who fired his shot right at a diving David Raya.

To be honest, a 1-1 draw was a fair result for both sides. Arsenal started brightly, but their level of attack fell drastically as the first half went on and then almost completely disappeared once Declan Rice was given his marching orders. As for Brighton, they were kind of the opposite. Growing into the game in the first half and then dominating the attack in the second half. The one curious decision Fabian Hurzeler made was taking off Kaoru Mitoma for Simon Adingra, as the Japanese international was their most creative force going forward.

For now, everyone heads off to their home countries for the first international break of the season. This gives Mikel Arteta a couple of weeks to watch back the first 3 matches and tweak his tactics, roles and team sheet. Because after the break it’s full systems ahead, as Arsenal play Tottenham, Manchester City and Leicester City in the league and open their champions league campaign against Atalanta. The season is heating up.