Declan Rice escaped a red card during Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton, prompting criticism from several pundits after a late flashpoint involving Malick Yalcouyé.
The incident came in the closing stages at the Amex Stadium with Arsenal already heading towards their first Premier League defeat of the season.
Yalcouyé appeared to shove Rice before the Arsenal midfielder retaliated by swiping at the Brighton player’s legs.
Rice was shown a yellow card.
Declan Rice gets bodied, so has a tantrum and kicks the Brighton player…
Any other player at any other club, that’s a straight red card and 3 match ban. Textbook.
Never for Arsenal though! 😂 pic.twitter.com/d63kr6u8q1
— Football Confidential 🌐 (@footballconfid1) September 19, 2026
Pundits believe Rice was fortunate
VAR reviewed the incident but decided it did not meet the threshold for violent conduct.
However, talkSPORT reported that Alex Crook, Troy Deeney and Jason Cundy all believed Rice could have been dismissed.
Crook described the incident as a “clear red card”, although the officials ultimately allowed Rice to remain on the pitch.
The controversy added another frustrating moment to an afternoon when Brighton comprehensively ended Arsenal’s perfect league start.
Our Brighton 3-0 Arsenal match report detailed a performance in which the Gunners managed only two shots on target.
Mikel Arteta later admitted Brighton deserved the victory and criticised Arsenal for failing several basic requirements in our breakdown of his post-match reaction.
Rice avoiding further punishment at least prevents Arteta from adding another selection issue to his list.
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