The Brazilian was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac in the 87th minute but Conte insisted that a push on Luiz by Alexis Sanchez before the tackle went wrongly unpunished.
“It is very important to see what happened before the David Luiz tackle,” said Conte said. “For sure, that was a foul. If he stopped the play before, [the tackle] didn’t happen. The referee has to use the whistle.”
Chelsea avoided any red cards during last season’s title-winning campaign but have now had three players sent off in five Premier League games, Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas seeing red in the opening-day home defeat by Burnley. Pedro was also sent off in the Community Shield against Arsenal.
“Do you think we are becoming bad?” said Conte. “It’s a strange situation. I was a player and this type of period can happen. I think we have to try to improve in all situations.
“I hope, also, to be more lucky with the refereeing decisions. For us, and also for the opponents. Sometimes the opponents deserve a red card but, instead, they carry on playing with 11 men.”
Conte will wait for the referee’s report before deciding whether to appeal but Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had no doubts that Oliver had made the correct call.
“Even Luiz would accept that he went in too strong,” said Wenger. “After that, it’s the decision of the referee. It looked to me like excessive force.”
Wenger was also pleased with his side’s reaction to the 4-0 defeat at Liverpool in their previous away match, Aaron Ramsey going closest to a winner with a shot that hit the post.
“People forget we beat Chelsea in the Cup final two months ago,” he said. “We’ve shown that quality many times. When you deliver the kind of performance we had at Liverpool, you have to accept the criticism. You can only respond on the pitch, and we did that today. It was vital for us to come out with a solid performance. We did exactly what I expected the team to do.”
Conte said that he was happy with his team’s performance.
“Don’t forget Arsenal are one of the top six in England, a strong team,” he said. “I think, finally, it was a good draw.”
He expects second-half substitute Eden Hazard, who broke his ankle on Belgium duty in June, to begin the EFL Cup tie at home to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
“He will have the possibility to start the game and complete his recovery,” said Conte. “We hope that everything is okay after this game.”