Sutton Tears Into Neto as Chelsea's Red Card Woes Cost Them at Emirates

Chris Sutton has unleashed on Chelsea winger Pedro Neto following the Portuguese international's dismissal in Sunday's 2-1 Premier League defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates.

The match unfolded as a set-piece masterclass for the Gunners. William Saliba opened the scoring with a bundled effort from a corner on 21 minutes, before Piero Hincapie's unfortunate own-goal—also stemming from a corner—levelled proceedings just before the interval.

Arsenal completed their comeback through Jurrien Timber, who headed home from close range on 66 minutes after yet another corner delivery proved decisive.

The turning point came five minutes later when Neto received a second yellow card for a reckless lunge on Gabriel Martinelli as the Arsenal winger broke down the left flank. The dismissal left Chelsea chasing shadows, and Sutton pulled no punches in his assessment.

"From Chelsea's point of view, Pedro Neto let them down badly," Sutton remarked. "What an idiot getting sent off like that."

The red card represents another disciplinary headache for Liam Rosenior's outfit, following Wesley Fofana's dismissal in the previous match against Burnley. Captain Reece James acknowledged the mounting concern, stressing the need for immediate improvement.

"We've spoken about it, it's come up a number of times, every time it's someone different, not the same player," James said. "Internally we need to review and keep improving. It's a problem, we are playing in the toughest league in the world, you play against top or bottom 11 v 11 it's tough, 11 v 10 is even harder no matter who you are playing.

"I have no doubt in the team and staff, it didn't go our way today but we need to regroup and go again. It's disappointing to walk away empty handed. When it was 1-1 we had a half chance to make it 2-1, their goalie made a good save, they got a set-piece and manage to score."

Gary Neville, meanwhile, aimed his criticism at Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, accusing him of both poor positioning and needless complaints during Arsenal's winning goal.

"Robert Sanchez is all over the place, he's whinging unnecessarily in my view," Neville said on Sky Sports. "Watch Sanchez, not a chance, he's nowhere near it. It's really poor goalkeeping. He misreads the flight. He's had such a poor day, he really has. On the ground and in the air.

"He will know deep down he wasn't fouled, he had to create something because he got the flight wrong. Chelsea were doing well up until that point but that swung the momentum."