Declan Rice insists Arsenal must accept responsibility after receiving their third red card of the season in their 2-0 defeat against Bournemouth.
William Saliba was dismissed after 27 minutes for hauling down Evanilson after Leandro Trossard’s woeful back-pass, giving his team-mates plenty of work to do with 10 men.
Rice, who was sent off against Brighton earlier this season, has urged his colleagues to stop making mistakes that lead to red cards. It comes just weeks after Trossard was given his marching orders for a second yellow card in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
Rice told Sky Sports: “The fact of the matter is that we’ve kicked ourselves in the foot this season, three times in eight games. We’ve got away with it twice, home to Brighton and away to City. it’s not all the time that luck can go your way.
“In the end tonight, Bournemouth kept probing and they won 2-0. Look, I’m proud of us as a group of players because to keep believing that we can win even with 10 men… We played really well even with 10 men.
“The naivety of it is we need to stop making mistakes because we want 11 players for 90 minutes. That’s what wins you football matches. That’s the way I’m seeing it today.”
Arsenal struggled for intensity with 10 men but could have gone ahead when Gabriel Martinelli forced a good save out of Kepa Arrizabalaga. Less than two minutes later, though, Bournemouth went ahead through Ryan Christie before Justin Kluivert scored a penalty.
The Arsenal midfielder continued: “We showed a lot of character and personality with 10 men to stay in the game. The best chance we had was Martinelli’s chance. The ‘keeper has made a great save and read Martinelli’s shot.
“They go up the other end. They get a corner a minute later and a routine where we’re usually so strong has done us. There are no regrets tonight other than the fact we can’t keep making silly mistakes. Especially if you want to compete and be at the top at the end of the season.
“You want your best players on the pitch at all times. [Red cards] also give the other players a mountain to climb as well, being down to 10 men.
“The belief in this group of players is still so, so high. We spoke [in the dressing room], it’s such a big month coming up. We’ll stick together. This is football, this is what happens. It’s a roller-coaster game, an up and down journey. It’s never going to be perfect but the most important thing is that we stick together.”
