“We’ll play without the ball!” - Mikel Arteta responds when asked if he should warn Arsenal players about kicking ball away after red card saga

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta was asked in a press conference if he needs to remind his players about not kicking the ball away after the referee's whistle. The Gunners have suffered on two occasions this season for committing the same error, most recently in their 2-2 draw against Manchester City.

Responding to a question from the media about warning his players to not kick the ball away, Arteta said jokingly (via SPORTbible's Instagram):

"Yeah, don't touch the ball. We'll play without the ball."

Leandro Trossard, who was on a yellow card in Arsenal's last game against Manchester City, was sent off for a second violation where he kicked the ball away after the referee had blown his whistle. Earlier in the season, Declan Rice faced the same penalty in a league clash against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Trossard's red card against City came at the stroke of half-time with the score reading 2-1 in favor of Arsenal. The Gunners defended for the entirety of the second half but had to settle for a draw after John Stones found the net in the dying seconds of the game.

The draw left Arsenal in fourth place with 11 points after five games. City remain at the top of the table with 13 points from five matches.

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva unhappy with Arsenal's brand of football in 2-2 draw

Manchester City took the lead in the high-profile clash courtesy of a calm finish from Erling Haaland. Arsenal's defenders came to the rescue as Riccardo Calafiori hit a rocket to level the scorelines before Gabriel Magalhaes scored from a corner to put the Gunners into the lead.

Having secured a 2-1 lead in the first half and watching City midfield ace Rodri limp off the pitch, the scales looked tipped in favor of Arsenal before Trossard's red card changed the game. The Gunners came out in the second half having substituted Bukayo Saka to bring on Ben White.

They defended for the entirety of the second half, which apparently drew criticism from City midfielder Bernardo Silva. He told TNT Brazil (via First Post):

“There was only one team that came to play football. The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee, unfortunately. But at the end, we got a draw, the best we could get considering the context of the last moments of the match."

Silva added:

"We’re not happy as we wanted the three points, but personally, I’m happy with the way we came to play and faced the game. I’m glad we always enter the pitch to try to win every match.”

The Gunners had 12.4% possession in the second half and registered one shot on goal to City's 28 (total shots) in the last 45 minutes.