Mikel Arteta: Arsenal are overperforming considering red cards, injuries

The loss has further complicated their title bid, with Arteta lamenting the inconsistent enforcement of rules by referees.

The key turning point in the match came when Myles Lewis-Skelly was shown a straight red card for denying Mohammed Kudus a clear goalscoring opportunity.

The incident, which occurred on the halfway line, was referred to VAR, which recommended that referee Craig Pawson upgrade Lewis-Skelly's initial yellow card to red.

At the time, Arsenal's goalkeeper David Raya was far outside his penalty area, leaving Kudus with a virtually unopposed shot on goal.

While there was no suggestion that Pawson's decision was wrong, the red card tally for Arsenal has now reached five for the season, the highest in the Premier League.

This followed earlier dismissals for Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard, both of whom were sent off after receiving two yellow cards, some of which came for delaying restarts.

Arteta expressed concern that such rules have not been consistently applied across the campaign.

"Yes there are things in certain red cards that we had that we could have done differently," Arteta said.

"Even though now the rules appear to change again and not considered what it was before.

"In other aspects it's very difficult to change because when you ask the player why they have made that decision, it's a very spontaneous decision. A very sharp movement or decision-making that caused you the action. It's very difficult to change that.

"We have made big strides this season, big time, because we should be in a very different position with everything that has happened.

"There's no team in Premier League history with five red cards and the amount of injuries we've had that were in the position that we are in today. You [should be] in the middle of the table and out of the Champions League." 

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