The incident came as Brighton saw out a shock win at the Amex on Saturday that ended Arsenal’s unbeaten start to the season and was their first league defeat since being crowned Premier League champions. Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andrés scored for the hosts.
Rice, 27, was trying to play out from the back in the closing stages under pressure from 20-year-old Yalcouyé when the Brighton midfielder shoved him after he had released the ball. The England international chased his opponent down and kicked out at him, and Yalcouyé went to ground.
Referee Darren England ran in to calm things down as Yalcouyé tried to confront Rice, but only showed the Arsenal man a yellow card. Brighton fans demanded a red, and supporters on social media questioned why one was not shown, with one asking fellow fans to imagine the reaction had it been Phil Foden instead.
The decision was checked by VAR and cleared because it did not meet the threshold for violent conduct. It was judged petulant, and a yellow was considered enough.
A red would have meant a three-match ban, with Rice missing games against Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Everton.
Hackett, a former FIFA referee and former head of referees, told Football Insider he believes England was too lenient, and compared it with last week’s Manchester derby, when Foden was sent off.
“Declan Rice, in a retaliatory action off the ball, kicks his opponent. He’s fortunate the referee took a lenient view and saw it as reckless rather than violent conduct.
“Is the bar too high at Pro Ref? Last week we saw a situation where Bruno Fernandes kicked Phil Foden, who retaliated and received a red card. The Manchester United captain received nothing.
“In both these situations, you could determine that violent conduct could have taken place and red cards should have been issued.
“I suggest at Pro Ref they look at the incidents and determine where the bar stands in relation to kicking an opponent.”