Declan Rice managed to avoid being sent off in the final seconds of Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton on Saturday afternoon.

The Gunners were dealt their first defeat of the Premier League season in shock fashion, with Rice losing his head late on.

Declan Rice after Arsenal lose to Brighton
Rice and Arsenal were battered by Brighton on Saturday, with the midfielder losing his cool late on
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In the last few moments of the clash at the Amex Stadium, with the Brighton fans bouncing, the midfielder kicked out.

Malick Yalcouye leant into the England international, slightly nudging him, which caused a reaction.

Rice then chased down Yalcouye and swiped his legs from underneath him, sending him down to the ground.

As it happened, talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook said on commentary: “Declan Rice goes through the back of Yalcouye off the ball! That looked a bit nasty!”

Co-commentator Troy Deeney then said: “Declan’s just lost his temper there. There’s no real need for it, there’s a little push in the back.

“And as Yalcouye walks across him, he has a little swipe at his legs.”

Crook went on to ask: “Is that not a red card?

To which Deeney replied: “You’d have to ask [Mikel] Arteta if he’d want that as a red card after his conference last week about referees.”

Why was Rice not shown a red card?

Rice would only receive a yellow card for his actions – and the Premier League have now explained the decision not to send him off.

The incident was checked and cleared by VAR, but talkSPORT understands the VAR decided it did not meet the threshold for violent conduct, considering it to be petulant at best.

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Declan Rice claps Arsenal fans
Rice managed to avoid a red card as VAR didn’t deem his actions to be ‘violent conduct’
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What has been said about Rice avoiding a red card?

Post-match, talkSPORT’s Jason Cundy joined the debate over whether Rice should have been shown a red card.

He said: “My first instinct is that it should have been a red card.”

With Deeney quickly agreeing: “It has to be a red card…Declan has lost his head for a brief second.

“If that was the other way around, they’d want someone sent off.”

Speaking on the GameDay Phone-In, Cundy then stated: “It’s a red card, he’s a lucky boy, he should be off the field.

“He gets a yellow, it’s a red card, VAR should get involved in that, he boots him off the ball, it’s worse than the [Phil] Foden-Bruno [Fernandes] challenge last week, it’s 100 per cent worse.

Mikel Arteta claps fans at Amex Stadium
Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton was their heaviest on over three years
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“It’s a red card, and this story won’t go away, he’s a lucky boy and it should have been a red card.”

The 3-0 loss to Brighton was Arsenal’s heaviest defeat in over three years and came as somewhat of a surprise, despite the clear quality of Fabian Hurzeler‘s Seagulls.

The Gunners had only conceded one goal this season up until this match, with their defence finally opened up.

As a result of the heavy defeat, they have now dropped down to second in the Premier League table behind Manchester City, who are yet to play this weekend and face Sunderland on Sunday.

Fortunately for Arteta though, he’ll still have Rice available for their next clash after he managed to avoid a red.