Mikel Arteta: 'I've never seen anything like Gabriel Martinelli's red card'

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has claimed that he has never seen anything like Gabriel Martinelli's red card in Thursday's Premier League win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Brazilian attacker picked up two yellow cards in the same passage of play - one for shoving Daniel Podence before a throw-in and another for bundling over Chiquinho barely 10 seconds later.

Arsenal still held on for all three points despite receiving a fourth red card from six games in 2022, and Arteta has admitted that the nature of Martinelli's sending off was totally new to him.

Speaking to BT Sport after the win, Arteta said: "I've never seen that. I've been 18 years in this country and I've never seen something like it. We made it even more difficult for ourselves playing with 10 men. We suffered a lot in the last 10 minutes. I've never seen anything like it.

"To win football matches like that [with 10 men] is extremely difficult and we have to stop it. We've been talking about it. I have run out of ideas [about how to stop it], I think. We need to play with 11 players in the last 16 games and that is key. To win games with 10 men is very unlikely."

Gabriel Magalhaes's winner in the first half saw the Gunners rise to fifth in the Premier League table - one point behind West Ham United with two games in hand.