Ex-refs chief: Declan Rice should have been punished for 'unsporting behaviour' vs Chelsea

Chris Kavanagh failed to punish Declan Rice appropriately as Arsenal held out for a narrow 2-1 win over Chelsea.

That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that the England international deserved a caution late on in proceedings.

Mikel Arteta's side are often criticised for their use of the "dark arts," and the same could certainly be said in North London on Sunday, 6 September.

As well as Hackett arguing that Martin Odegaard's winner should have been disallowed for a foul in the build-up, many will suggest that Gabriel Magalhaes should have been sent off.

The tactics clearly worked, with the Gunners claiming all three points to remain second in the Premier League table, only to Manchester City.

However, Arteta's men could have ended the game for more yellow cards that Kavanagh was willing to show, especially with Rice getting heavily involved.

Chris Kavanagh's 'poor officiating' allows Declan Rice to escape

In the 83rd minute, Morgan Rogers was absolutely furious when being tripped by Arsenal's No.41, but was the only one cautioned after squaring up to his opponent.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Hackett couldn't help but criticise the decision to only caution one of the players involved, but was still impressed by Kavanagh's overall performance.

"There was an incident involving Rice, who tripped up his opponent [Rogers], him being unhappy and getting a yellow card," he said.

"Rice didn't get one, and that was a pretty poor piece of officiating. Rice stopped a promising attack. He should have been cautioned for unsporting behaviour.

"I think generally Kavanagh stayed neutral. By that, I mean his body language, there was no aggression.

"He took a little bit of verbals and he accepted it because he wanted to remain low key. I thought he delivered a fairly mature performance."

Which other Arsenal players escaped cautions?

As already discussed, Gabriel was hugely fortunate not to go into the referee's notebook, having kicked goalkeeper Emi Martinez in the face.

Ezri Konsa could have also seen his name taken after a scuffle with Rogers, while Myles Lewis-Skelly should have been booked for an accumulation of fouls.

Martin Zubimendi was also fortunate not to be cautioned after coming on as a substitute, leaving Christos Tzolis and Mikel Merino as the only Arsenal players booked.

Xabi Alonso's side, on the other hand, ended the game with four yellow cards. For a London derby, that was a rather tame performance from both sides.