That is the view of referee Chris Kavanagh, who states he did not want to give the Gunners midfielder his marching orders.
While the referee did feel for Rice, he felt that he had to give him a second yellow for kicking the ball away in the 1-1 draw.
PGMOL chief refereeing officer Howard Webb went over the TV footage and referee audio of the incident.
Webb said: "As you hear from Chris Kavanagh, he's clearly seen Declan Rice commit a foul, then kick the ball away from an opponent that was in the process of taking a free-kick.
"We've messaged very clearly and strongly to the players in pre-season around the importance of not getting involved with the ball once the whistle is gone, not delaying the restart in that way.
"Once he's seen Declan Rice deliberately, clearly kick that ball away from the position of that free-kick, then I don't think he's got any choice."