Declan Rice 'fully accepts' bizarre red card as Arsenal midfielder admits to 'sense of guilt' after draw with Brighton

The England international had to walk down the tunnel early in the second half after referee Chris Kavanagh issued him a second yellow card. Rice was deemed to have prevented Brighton's Joel Veltman from taking a quick free-kick which resulted in his dismissal. The match changed its complexion after he was sent off as Brighton made the most of their numerical advantage and cancelled out Kai Havertz's opener through Joao Pedro.

Following the match, a remorseful Rice publicly apologised to his teammates and the Arsenal supporters.

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

Rice admitted that he was surprised by the referee's decision to send him off, particularly given the nature of the second yellow card.

He added: "Yeah I was shocked, I think you could see in my face I was shocked. 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."

As a result of the red card, Rice will be suspended for Arsenal's upcoming match against Tottenham in the first North London Derby of the season on September 15. Before that, Rice will join his England teammates as the Three Lions are slated to play against Republic of Ireland and Finland in the Nations League on September 7 and 10 respectively.