Rice sees red as Arsenal held, Everton suffer late meltdown

MANCHESTER, England : Declan Rice's red card proved crucial as Arsenal drew 1-1 with Brighton & Hove Albion to end their perfect start to the Premier League season as Everton suffered a painful 3-2 home loss to Bournemouth on Saturday.

Aston Villa returned to winning ways as goals by Amadou Onana and Jhon Duran secured a 2-1 victory at Leicester City and Southampton joined Everton as the only pointless teams following a 3-1 loss at Brentford.

After narrowly missing out on their first Premier League title since 2004 last season, Arsenal had started the new campaign strongly ahead of the visit of Brighton.

They looked on course for a ninth successive league victory after a dominant first-half display and forward Kai Havertz's lofted finish.

England midfielder Rice's second yellow for trying to stop Brighton taking a quick free kick, however, a decision that was met with consternation around the Emirates Stadium, turned the tide in the visitors' favour.

"I am amazed," Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta told reporters. Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be.

"By law, he can make that call, but then by law he needs to make the next call, which is red card so we play 10 against 10. This is what amazed me. At this level it's amazing."

Brazilian striker Joao Pedro levelled 12 minutes later and both teams had chances to win a gripping match.

EVERTON STUNNED

Everton, under pressure after two league losses, opened up a 2-0 lead over Bournemouth in a seven-minute spell after the break through goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Bournemouth spent most of the game on the back foot, but with three minutes left they pulled a goal back when Antoine Semenyo poked home from close range.

In added time, Lewis