Published on 18.12.2023
Mikel Arteta says he didn’t deserve his booking, joking he was waving at Gabriel Martinelli instead of protesting at the referee.
The Spaniard was shown a yellow card by official Tim Robinson in the 2-0 win against Brighton at the Emirates yesterday.
That was his fourth caution of the season.
Arteta received his third yellow card of the campaign after running out of his technical area to celebrate Declan Rice’s last-gasp winner at Luton.
On yesterday’s incident, he stressed that he shouldn’t have found himself in the referee’s notebook, with his explanation sending Arsenal fans on social media into hysterics.
The former Everton midfielder was asked whether he believes his caution was fair, to which he stated: “No, I was waving to Gabriel Martinelli.”
With a wry smile on his face, Arteta then said, ‘See you’, before pacing out of the interview.
The 41-year-old now has the most yellow cards out of any manager in the top flight this term, with Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag and Fulham’s Marco Silva both on three bookings.
If a Premier League manager receives 16 yellow cards, they will need to attend an FA misconduct hearing.
