Blackpool boss Terry McPhillips bemoaned a red card to Paudie O’Connor as his side pushed 10-man Arsenal all the way before losing their Carabao Cup clash at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners had appeared to be coasting into the last eight as Stephan Lichtsteiner’s first goal for the club and a second-half strike for Emile Smith Rowe put them in charge.
But Blackpool rallied after Matteo Guendouzi was dismissed for a second yellow card and O’Connor headed the visitors back into the contest.
The Leeds loanee had earlier hit the bar but his evening ended prematurely when he was sent off for fouling substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as Arsenal secured a 2-1 win and a quarter-final clash at home to local rivals Tottenham.
The Tangerines were looking dangerous after halving the arrears, Nathan Delfouneso having a goal ruled out for offside after Petr Cech had been caught in possession.
McPhillips felt the decision to dismiss O’Connor was harsh and came at a time when Blackpool had their Premier League hosts rattled.
“I didn’t think it was a red for our lad,” he said.
“Where we play that is a yellow. I couldn’t believe it when he pulled out the red. We were in the ascendancy, had them on the back foot – credit to all the players.
“They had 10 men and we had to push forward and nearly pinched it off them… we threatened them more than they threatened us.
“It was harsh on us to be 2-0 down, the ‘keeper didn’t have any saves to make.”
For Arsenal head coach Unai Emery this was a 12th win from the previous 13 games as he made nine changes from the side that drew 2-2 at Crystal Palace.
Cech returned in goal while Carl Jenkinson made his first Arsenal appearance in 701 days and Julio Pleguezuelo came into defence to make his debut.
“A lot of things happened in the game in the 90 minutes but I think we controlled a lot of moments in the match and we were 2-0 up and the match is, for us, in a good moment,” Emery said of the display.
“This red card to Matteo affected the balance more for them and their goal also, we can and we need to continue our work to the last minute with our performance and our players to win today. But I think that doing our work, we deserved this victory also.”
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