But Arsenal’s fury stemmed from an earlier incident when Brighton forward Joao Pedro ran the ball out of play near the touchline, before kicking the ball down the pitch to halt a quick throw-in, but the Brazilian was not punished.
When asked what he had been told by the Premier League over the Rice incident, Arteta informed TNT Sports: “None, like always. If it happens in the game in a consistent way that’s fine, but it didn’t happen, there were a number of occasions where they kicked the ball away and nothing happened.
“So it’s inconsistency, especially because as well it’s in an area where it’s not critical. On top of that you made that call, then you have to give a red card as well. If we had to play with 10, they had to play with 10 because it’s a red card for Veltman.”
Salt was rubbed into Arsenal’s wounds further as Rice will be suspended for the North London Derby against Tottenham after the international break. With Mikel Merino also likely to miss the match, as the new signing was spotted with his arm in a sling during the Brighton clash, Arteta will be forced into a reconfiguration of his midfield.
“I don’t know (about Rice missing the next match),” Arteta added. “We are thinking only of today and this game. It was unbelievable the way the team reacted. With 10 men, playing 48 or 49 minutes like this, we should have won the game.”