Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud has said that Mikel Arteta's sending-off during this afternoon's 2-0 win at Crystal Palace was "tough to take".
After giving his side the lead early in the first half, Arteta was shown a straight red card on 64 minutes for bringing down Marouane Chamakh near the halfway line as the Morocco international looked to run through on goal.
The Gunners responded well to Arteta's dismissal, as Giroud went on to wrap up the victory by notching his eighth goal of the season.
"I was quite far from incident, but it was a tough decision as I think we had another defender who was in front of Mikel, Giroud told BT Sport.
"So its tough to take, but we came back and got a good result."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was much more adamant in his disagreement with the referee's decision.
He explained: "I honestly think it is the wrong decision. It has to be a clear goalscoring opportunity and it happened a long way from goal."
Arteta is the second Arsenal player to score and be sent off in the same Premier League match, following in the footsteps of Ian Wright, who achieved the feat in 1996.
Robert Summerscales
