Mikel Arteta was left fuming after Gabriel Martinelli was sent off during Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton on Thursday night.
Martinelli’s red card marked the fourth one for Arsenal in 2022, after receiving two yellow cards in a span of seconds as his side held on to beat Wolves 1-0. Arteta demand
The Brazilian’s dismissal was 15th under Arteta who took charge in 2019 but the Spaniard defended the record insisting they are not dirty and wants to know why they are falling foul of referees.
“It’s worrying. The red card changed things. The red card was one you have to want to give,” said Arteta after the game.
“You ask me if I’m happy with the decisions we’ve had this season and that’s a conversation I will have with officials privately. I want explanations about VAR and what happened tonight. They are conversations that are going to happen very soon.”
“Everyone says it is the most disciplined group they have seen in the last 10 to 15 years, but we are still getting red cards”
“I’ve never seen that (Martinelli’s red). I’ve been 18 years in this country and I’ve never seen something like it.”
On the win
“I’m really happy with the result obviously. It was a massive result for us away at a good team that makes barely (any) errors and concedes very little.”
“I keep telling you guys how close they are, how willing they are to defend their shirt.”
Martin Keown’s reaction
“I thought it was pedantic from the referee”, he told BT Sport.
“There’s a moral issue with what the referee has done, it doesn’t feel sporting.”
The victory saw Arsenal move fifth on the log with 39 points, one off the top four.
