Arteta ‘loved’ Arsenal win over Palace but demands ‘consistency’ from officials after Tomiyasu red card
Mikel Arteta “loved” Arsenal’s tight 1-0 win at Crystal Palace but believes a stopwatch may be required to iron out inconsistencies in time-wasting after Takehiro Tomiyasu’s red card.
The Gunners won 1-0 at Selhurst Park as captain Martin Odegaard netted the winner in the second-half via his penalty.
Defender Tomiyasu was dismissed on Monday night, picking up a harsh yellow card for a foul on Jordan Ayew just seven minutes after being booked after he was perceived to be time-wasting at a throw-in.
The new remit for officiating this season has called, among other changes, for a clamp down on time-wasting but Arteta believes the timing did not add up on Tomiyasu’s booking.
Asked about the rule changes, the Spaniard replied: “For me it is not an issue. The referee makes that call.
“And we are consistent with that. They explained it. The only thing we are asking for is consistency. If not we need to play with a stopwatch to understand what is it and what is not.”
Arteta did not agree when told Tomiyasu had waited 23 seconds to take the throw-in before being cautioned – replying: “It wasn’t. I think it was eight seconds. We might have to play with a stopwatch.
“This is the standards.”
Despite the red card, Arsenal made it two wins from two following on from the opening-day victory over Nottingham Forest.
Odegaard stepped up to tuck away a penalty after Eddie Nketiah – who had hit a post in the first half – was tripped by Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
“I loved it, absolutely loved it,” Arteta said of the win.
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“It’s a really difficult place to come, we played the way we wanted to play 11 against 11. We dominated the game, we created enough chances, we missed two very, very huge chances.
“We scored the penalty and then we have to play half an hour with 10 men. It’s a conflict we didn’t prepare for but we had to adapt and the players were fantastic.
“I don’t think we gave anything away. The subs were great, the way they came out, the concentration, the focus, how much they helped the team, the coaching. They changed momentum in many occasions of the game. So really happy.”
