Footage has shown Danny Welbeck‘s previously unseen role in Arsenal star Declan Rice‘s sending off against Brighton.
Rice was sent off for the first time in his career during the 1-1 draw at the Emirates, following a controversial second yellow card.
There was initial confusing over the second yellow as the England international appeared to be kicked by Joel Veltman.
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Replays showed Rice toed the ball away and the Premier League revealed that referee Chris Kavanagh punished the midfielder for ‘delaying the restart’.
Brighton have posted a video on their TikTok account with the caption ‘rules are rules’ with a clip showing what former Arsenal star Welbeck said before Rice got a second yellow.
Welbeck is clearly heard saying in the video to his Brighton team-mate Veltman in front of Rice: ‘It’s a second yellow.’
Rice is then shown his marching orders and Welbeck can be seen saying something to the midfielder while nodding his head – as the Arsenal star protested the decision.
Arsenal were 1-0 up at the time at the time of the sending off after Kai Haverz gave them the lead.
Brighton netted an equaliser just nine minutes after Arsenal were reduced to 10 men, with the Seagulls snatching a point at the Emirates.
The video might not please Arsenal fans, with Welbeck making 88 appearances for the Gunners between 2014 and 2019.
While the 33-year-old believed the right decision was made, Arsenal supporters fumed over the decision.
Notable fan Piers Morgan said that it was the ‘worst red card decision’ he had ever seen.
Other fans pointed out that Joao Pedro avoided a yellow card for kicking the ball away earlier in the match.
Though Rice was unhappy when the decision was made, he later revealed that he apologised to his team-mates.
He said: ‘I think from my behalf, that’s my first [career] sending off, 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.’
Despite his contrition, Rice admitted he was surprised to be sent-off for a an infraction he perceived to be quite minor.
‘Yeah I was shocked, I think you could see in my face I was shocked,’ Rice said. ‘He’s obviously gone over, I’ve not sprinted over 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.
‘I have to move on from it, I will be better for it and I can only praise the players for digging deep for me, and the manager for pushing everyone, and the fans as well who were unbelievable again this afternoon. That’s how I see it.’
Source: DailyMail
