Highlights:
- Gabriel Magalhaes dismissal lodges 100th red card and an unwanted milestone for the Gunners in the defeat to Manchester City.
- Arsenal surpasses Everton at 99 red cards to become the first side with 100 red cards ever since Premier League began in 1992.
- The team has witnessed 11 players being sent off, which is four more than any other side in the Premier League, under the management of Arteta since December 2019.
The Brazilian centre back was sent off on the grounds of a second bookable offence worsening the start of the second half for the Gunners. Arsenal has become the first side to set a new Premier League record for red cards. This happened after the defender was given marching orders in a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City.
The league leaders, Manchester City were welcomed into the Emirates stadium by Arsenal on 31st December inclined to average their 50 defeat to Manchester earlier in August. The Gunners under the leadership of Mikel Arteta went up 1-0 at half-time ahead of Nukayo Saka’s strike, but Manchester winger Riyad Mahrez equalled the proceedings before the hosts lessened to ten men, framing history in the process.
Arsenal conceded a penalty, missed an open goal and received a red card all in the space of 2 minutes ?♂️ pic.twitter.com/n7HEu5GxZb
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) January 1, 2022
Magalhaes dismissal in the second half of the 2-1 loss occurred in quite bizarre circumstances. He received two yellow cards consecutively, the first for attempting to scuff up the penalty spot following midfielder Granit Xhaka’s giveaway of a spot-kick. Gabriel’s removal logged an unwanted milestone for Arsenal with the 100th red card, ever since the Premier League started in 1992 surpassing Everton to the landmark total.
Also Read: 40 Most Interesting Football Facts
Other teams who totalled over 90 red cards include the Toffees on 99 and Newcastle on 90. Chelsea is way behind at 82 for now. Arsenal has evidently been undergoing disciplinary issues over the past 30 years and there seems to have been little to no improvement under the management of Mikel Arteta.
Despite the calm of the former Spaniard winger alongside his measured character, his team has been unable to relay that personality onto the pitch. Since Arteta’s takeover in December 2019, Gabriel has been the 11th player to have been sent off. This number is four extra to what any other side in the Premier League has seen with Southhampton and Brighton preceding them at seven in that period.
Arsenal has swiftly exceeded Everton, who have only four red cards since October 2019 under the leadership of Arteta. The ones who contributed to Arsenal’s tally over the years are Patrick Vieira (8 red cards), Martin Keown (6 red cards), Laurent Koscielny (5 red cards) and Granit Xhaka and Tony Adams (4 red cards each).