A third red card in the last eight games resulted in Arsenal falling to a 2-0 loss to Bournemouth AFC in the Premier League on Saturday. Defender William Saliba was sent off at the half-hour mark as he fouled rival striker Evanlison in an attempt to snap a goal-scoring opportunity.

Arsenal held the storm of previous such in-game suspensions to secure draws against Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City, but they were unable to cross over the finishing line this time around.

“After 30 minutes, you get down to 10 men, you have to play 67, 68 minutes in this league again with 10 men – that’s an accident waiting to happen,” Arteta told Sky Sports.

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“It’s a game of errors – for me tonight, we made two big ones that have cost us a game. And yeah, it’s the third time we play in games with 10 men, and at this level, it’s very complicated.”

Bournemouth pounced upon their strong start to the season by securing an upper hand over prolonged periods of the game. Eventually, strikes by Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert proved sufficient to notch the victory.

Arteta gave credit to the hosts for their victory, but felt that his side had to bear their fair share of the blame for the errors they made.

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“They (mistakes) are part of football and it’s not the moment to point the finger at anybody, because (the players’) attitude is excellent, and they really want (to win), and they really try,” the Spanish coach explained.

“It’s been tough mentally as well, to play for those long periods in this league, in these conditions, but today unfortunately we paid the price.”

(With Reuters inputs)