“It doesn’t matter” - Micah Richards disagrees with Alan Shearer over Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice’s red card

Micah Richards reckons there's no law that states Declan Rice should have been sent off during Arsenal's 1-1 Premier League home draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday. He said that the Englishman didn't try to kick the ball away, while Joao Pedro did it in the first half.

After a yellow card in the first half, Rice received another early in the second, albeit a contentious one, to get sent off. Brighton equalised nine minutes later as both sides saw their perfect start to the season come to an end.

On The Rest Is Football podcast, Alan Shearer said that Rice's dismissal wasn't something fans want to see, but it;s in the law. The debate was started by Gary Lineker, who said:

"I just think it's another sign that football's kind of lost its mind a little bit for me to get a second yellow and red card for that. I saw Declan Rice said that he didn't actually try and flick the ball away. It just kind of, it was just, I mean, he just barely touched it to be honest."

Shearer responded:

"Yeah I totally get and understand the argument. Do we want to see it? No, not really. Is it the law? Yes. Were the players told about that in pre-season? They were sat down and warned, yes."

Richards wasn't happy with the law and the yellow card that led to the sending-off as he said:

"No this is, honestly,. I feel completely different to the way you guys feel. I think that was one of the worst decisions I've ever seen. Okay first point, (Joao) Pedro kicked the ball away. He kicked the ball away. It doesn't matter."

Shearer was unwilling to back down:

"It does because there's a ball on the sideline, which doesn't matter if you kick the ball, when the balls off the pitch, if you kick it into the top row of the stand, it doesn't matter because there's one five yards away."

Declan Rice will miss Arsenal's North London Derby at Tottenham Hotspur on September 15 when the players return from the international break.

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Former Premier League referee doesn't think Arsenal red card was needed

Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett was quick to call out referee Chris Kavanagh, saying that the decision to send Arsenal star Declan Rice off was incorrect. He wrote on Linkedin (as per the Mirror):

“Why earlier in the game when a player booted the ball away from the scene of a required restart was no action taken? Rice cannot appeal two yellow cards, so the matter is closed.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was also not happy with the decision and said that the decision surprised him. He, too, pointed at the Pedro incident from the first half, where the Brighton player wasn't booked for booting the ball away.