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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was unhappy with Gabriel Martinelli's sending off during the Gunners' Premier League encounter against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The north London-based outfit took the lead at Molineux last night (February 10) after Gabriel Magalhaes scored from close range in the 25th minute. Both sides came close to scoring thereafter, but the Gunners held on to their one-goal advantage for over an hour.
In the 69th minute, Martinelli surprisingly received two yellow cards in the same phase of play. He first shoved Daniel Podence to avoid a quick throw-in, but the Wolves forward managed to do so anyway, prompting referee Michael Oliver to play an advantage.
Martinelli chased Chiquinho, who had raced forward with the ball, and fouled him from behind. This time, Oliver stopped play and quickly cautioned the Gunners forward twice, once each for either foul, and sent him off.
After the match, Arteta was asked about his views on the red card, to which he replied (as quoted by Arsenal's official website):
"To be fair, it’s the first time I’ve seen a red card like this in 18 years that I’ve been in this league. I think you have to be pretty willing to give a red card in that situation. But still it happened."
"Very worrying" - Arteta on Arsenal's red card record this season
Martinelli's red card marked the 15th red card Arsenal have received under Arteta. While they did manage to beat Wolves last night, the Gunners boss revealed that his side's disciplinary record worried him. Arteta said:
"Very worrying. We know that playing with 10 men in this league you’re not going to get points, enough points, the points that we want and we have to stop it."
The 39-year-old added that he isn't entirely sure how the problem can be solved, stating:
"But to be fair it’s difficult to find more arguments and more ways to transmit that to the players. Everybody says it’s the most disciplined group they’ve seen in the last 15 years, but still we are getting red cards for other things."
While the circumstances surrounding the win are certainly a cause for concern, the Gunners will be happy to have picked up all three points. The match against Wolves also saw Arteta's troops score for the first time since January 1 and snap a four-match winless streak.
Arsenal are now up to fifth in the Premier League standings with 39 points from 22 matches. They are just one point behind fourth-placed West Ham United and have two matches in hand over the Hammers.
