Nicolas Pepe red card 'unacceptable', says Mikel Arteta
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has claimed that Nicolas Pepe 'let his team-mates down' and that his behaviour was 'unacceptable' following his red card against Leeds.
Pepe headbutted Ezgjan Alioski at the beginning of the second half and was shown a straight red by referee Anthony Taylor.
Arsenal had to hold out with 10 men for 40 minutes and though Leeds came close on numerous occasions, hitting a total of 24 shots, the Gunners were able to secure a 0-0 draw.
But speaking to Sky Sports afterwards, Arteta was clearly unhappy with the conduct of his winger, saying: "It was unacceptable.
"The first 25 or 30 minutes we were dominant then the game started to break a little bit which leads to then having the space to break and leading us to suffer.
"I really liked the personality of the team when Pepe let the team, how we suffered and how we stick together and stick to what we had to do and still believe that we had a moment or two to win the game."
Pepe received the lowest rating of the match, a 5.6 FC Rating for his performance, and he will now likely miss three matches as a result of violent conduct.
Arsenal have now gone over eight hours of football without scoring from open play.
Leeds 0-0 Arsenal: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats