Declan Rice shares disappointment at “harsh” red card against Brighton

Declan Rice will be suspended for the North London derby against Tottenham on September 15.

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was not happy after having his first red card of his career. He has has conceded he was “shocked” after being sent off in Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Brighton.

Arsenal started the scoring through Kai Havertz’s strike going into the interval. They were ahead in the game but fans were shocked when Rice was given his marching orders in the opening stages of the second period.

He was given the first yellow card in the opening half and later, he got the second yellow card in 49th minute. Brighton defender Joel Veltman rolled the ball against the Englishman after being fouled by the Arsenal midfielder near the corner flag.

While talking to Arsenal’s media channels, Rice admitted that he was “shocked” to receive what “harsh” red card. He added, “I was shocked, I think you could see in my face I was shocked. He’s obviously gone over… I’ve not sprinted back in front of him and smashed the ball away.

“I’ve touched the ball with the outside of my foot. But look, this is the laws of the game. If you touch ball away, even a little bit, obviously it’s a red card after my challenge in the first half which I fully accept was a 50-50 that I didn’t win.

“But the second half one, especially with it being in the corner flag, they can’t really progress anywhere from there. It was tough, it was harsh, but it’s one of those things.

Rice added: “I think from my behalf, that’s my first sending off in my career, so I just wanted to apologise obviously to my teammates, which I’ve done, and to the fans.

“When you get sent off, it’s never nice, you get a sense of guilt over you, and I was lucky today that my teammates really helped me out and we didn’t lose the game.

“I’ll learn from it, I really appreciate the fans’ support as always – it’s not in my nature really to get red cards, so I’ll learn from it, I’ll see where I can be better, and I’ll be back for sure.”

Declan Rice will be suspended for the North London derby against Tottenham on September 15. Meanwhile, we have an international break and Rice might be seen in English outfit for Nations League.

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