Arsenal fans are furious over incident in Liverpool defeat as Declan Rice decision highlighted

Arsenal have already had a hugely controversial refereeing decision go against them this season, in what feels like a consistent theme.

Referee Chris Kavanagh caused fury amongst Arsenal fans at the Emirates Stadium as he sent off midfielder Declan Rice after two yellow cards against Brighton.

Rice’s second yellow was astonishing, as Brighton defender Joel Veltman lashed out at the midfielder with no punishment, whilst Rice was dismissed for allegedly delaying the restart when he lightly tapped the ball during a break in play, and Veltman even labelled the decision as “harsh.”

It was claimed in the days that followed that Kavanagh had “no choice” but to send Rice off, despite ignoring the “common sense” application when it comes to applying the Premier League rules in contentious situations.

Arsenal fans were furious at the time, and Rice will now miss the North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur. Two weeks later, Arsenal fans are angry again, as the same rules which saw Rice dismissed, were not applied in another game.

Dominik Szoboszlai sparks Arsenal anger after escaping red card in Liverpool defeat

Liverpool were dealt a blow as they suffered a shock defeat at home to Nottingham Forest, but it could have been worse.

Midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai was already on a yellow card when he committed a foul, and after the referees whistle blew, he crossed the ball in what could be considered a blatant case of delaying the restart, as seen in the Rice incident.

Arsenal fans are now furious on X, and they have highlighted the inconsistency over the decision not to punish the Liverpool midfielder in the same way Rice was.

“Szoboszlai, already on a yellow card, just did this and the referee had no choice but to send him off. Oh wait, “letter of the law,” one fan fumed.

“Szoboszlai was on a yellow card, he committed a foul, the free kick was given and he immediately ran over to the ball to boot it away. No second yellow given, no consistency once again,” an account highlighted.

“You can really see how much the referee had no choice in the way he made a choice to not follow his own rules,” another fan posted.

“The Rice decision was very clearly a mistake but I personally don’t want to see reds being given for stuff like this,” an Arsenal fan pointed out.

Either the referees don’t entirely understand the “letter of the law”, don’t entirely understand common sense, or they pick and choose when to apply either of the above. In any case, PGMOL are a shambles and Arsenal incidentally face the harshest brunt of it,” a fan raged.

Arsenal fans want consistency in refereeing decisions

The fury amongst Arsenal fans with regard to Szoboszlai stems from their frustration that decisions are being applied inconsistently.

Fans did not want to see Szoboszlai sent off for kicking the ball away, but in the context of Rice’s red card for an arguably lesser offence, their anger at the decisions, and the reaction to the decisions, is understandable.

“Arsenal fans are going to be unbearable, only because of the gaslighting. If they came out and said “technically it was the correct decision, but we appreciate the inconsistent application of the law can cause frustration”. We would keep it skippy and get on with our lives,” a fan added.

“Joao Pedro last week. Bruno Fernandes earlier today. Szoboszlai this afternoon. It would appear that the ‘letter of the law’ for kicking the ball away only applies to Arsenal players,” a fan claimed.

Arsenal fans are going to continue highlighting every incident of players kicking the ball away and not being punished with comparisons to the Rice red card, and it is becoming clearer that the inconsistency of decisions being applied within the league needs to improve.