Receiving a Red Card, Arsenal Are Considered to Lack of Discipline

DBasia.news – Arsenal did win their first win in 2022 at Wolverhampton Wanderers headquarters, Molineux Stadium, on week 24 of the Premier League, Friday (11/02).

However, the victory was tarnished by an Arsenal player’s red card. The Gunners won 1-0 from Gabriel Magalhaes’ goal (25′) with just 41 per cent of possession and two shots on target.

But in the 69th minute Arsenal striker Gabriel Martinelli received a red card and Arsenal were back to playing with 10 men. Martinelli’s red card was Arsenal’s 101st red card and made them the Premier League team with the most. That infuriated Mikel Arteta.

“I’ve never seen that,” Arteta told BBC Sport when asked about Martinelli’s red card. “I’ve been in this country for 18 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“We made it difficult for ourselves playing with 10 men. We suffered a lot in the last 10 minutes. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Now Arsenal have received four red cards in 2022. Before Martinelli, Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey and Gabriel received them. Arteta also ran out of ways to think about how his team went through the game without a red card.

“To win a football game like that (with 10 men) is very difficult and we have to stop it. We’ve talked about it. I think I’ve run out of ideas (about how to stop a red card),” added Arteta.

“The character, how we dug, the passion we showed, I’m very proud of the boys. There is togetherness and unity.”

“We have to play with 11 men in the last 16 games and that is the key. It is absolutely impossible to win a game with 10 men.”

Martinelli also becomes the third youngest South American player (20 years 237 days) to receive a red card in the Premier League, after Carlos Marinelli (18 years 256 days) and Rafael (20 years 191 days).

The positives aside from the win, Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has now kept clean sheets in 19 Premier League games this season, as was Bernd Leno in 35 in the 2020-2021 season (11 clean sheets).