Arsenal secured three points against Southampton in a fashion that most supporters would have perhaps rather not had to witness. Coming from behind with goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli, and Bukayo Saka, they achieved the perfect end to the run of games ahead of the international break.
This period had been peppered with controversy and the labeling of Arsenal with the “dark arts” tagline by many sections of the media. The phrase “delaying the restart” has perhaps never had more prevalence in our minds and whenever an opposition player now taps a ball away from its resting place outside a live-game scenario, it is met with angry jeers and ironic laughter from the Emirates Stadium crowd.
Yet despite the pressure that seemingly surrounds the club, something of a small amusing miracle occurred in the game with the Saints. There were three yellow cards given out during the game and none of them were shown to Arsenal players.
This was the first domestic game of the season that the Gunners successfully avoided a booking. The first came in the Champions League away to Atalanta, but this league match was something of a watershed moment.
The relationship Arsenal have had with officials, particularly after Mikel Arteta’s words in press conferences, such as at Newcastle last season, has become infamous. When Declan Rice was sent off for a second yellow card against Brighton, the Spaniard was careful but pointed in his words.
“I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be,” he said. “In the first half, there are two incidents and nothing happens.
“Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan, he turns around, he doesn’t see the player coming and he touches the ball. By law, he can make that call, but then by law, he needs to make the next call, which is a red card so we play 10 v 10. This is what amazed me. At this level, it’s amazing.”
Then Leandro Trossard was sent off against Manchester City, again with a second yellow like Rice, for delaying the restart by kicking the ball away. Speaking after the game, Arteta said, "I think it's very clear. Very obvious. Hopefully 100 percent of what people think.
“It's not my job to come here and judge what happened. My job is to survive in the most difficult environment you can throw in football for 55 minutes. And try to get things done to survive. That's my job; the rest is not my job.
"It's already the second time it has happened in five games, which is really, really worrying if we want to see the best Premier League."
Despite the growing reputation, Arsenal are now ranked joint-eighth for yellow cards with 17, although it is worth pointing out the four received by Rice and Trossard that became reds do not count toward this Premier League tally. Otherwise, they would be joint-fourth on 21.
Chelsea have the most on 27, Manchester United second on 24 and Wolves third on 22. Manchester City also have 17, while Everton and Brentford have received the fewest at 12.
Riccardo Calafiori has received three yellow cards in all competitions this season; Rice has four, although, as mentioned, two are ruled out having been turned into a red. It seems that Arteta’s side might be showing some improvement after their early season spate of bookings.
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