Mikel Arteta was not happy with the award of Brighton’s controversial penalty in Arsenal’s damaging 1-1 draw on Saturday night, with the Premier League clarifying the decision by releasing a statement.
The Gunners led with half an hour remaining thanks to youngster Ethan Nwaneri’s early goal but were pegged back in controversial circumstances down on the south coast.
Seagulls frontman Joao Pedro hit the floor when William Saliba attempted to clear the ball with his head but made only minimal contact before clashing with his opponent.
After a long deliberation, referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot and the decision was upheld by VAR, with the Premier League clarifying the reason why Saliba was penalised in a result which could turn out to be costly for Arsenal in the title race.
“The referee’s call of penalty for a foul by Saliba on João Pedro was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed there was sufficient contact for a penalty,” a statement published on the Premier League Match Centre’s X account read.
Pedro, who scored the equaliser when the two teams met at the Emirates earlier in the season, spoke after the game and felt Taylor’s decision was the right one.
He said: “I tried to control the ball and then [Saliba] hit me. It’s good that I scored. I always try to be positive with goals and assists.
“I like the feeling [of scoring] and hopefully I’ll score more.”
Arteta disagrees with Taylor call as Ian Wright rants
Arteta, unsurprisingly, saw the crucial incident differently as he argued that Saliba should not have been penalised after replays showed did make minimal contact with the ball.
The Gunners boss added: “I’m disappointed because we wanted to win the game. We started the game with good actions and a good goal. We knew it was going to be a challenging game.
“We gave too many balls away in the second half and we’re very disappointed with the penalty.
“I’ve never seen that in my life – and Saliba touches the ball. [It wasn’t one] for me, no.
“We’re playing every three days. I understand how much we want to [win], but in terms of the quality and the consistency and doing the simple things right against a competitive team, we didn’t do enough today.”
Gunners legend Ian Wright, meanwhile, was left raging at Taylor’s call as the result left Arsenal five points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, although Arne Slot’s men have two games in hand.
Wright told Optus Sport: “I don’t know what to believe anymore. This is ridiculous. We have the worst officials in Europe.
“No way is that a penalty, I’m not having that. I can’t sit with it and I can’t understand it.”
Latest Arsenal news: Gunners pushing for Cunha move / Ferguson deal back on
Arsenal are reportedly ‘pushing’ to secure a deal for Matheus Cunha in the January transfer window, in a move which would spoil the plans of some of their rivals.
Cunha is one of the most impressive talents in the Premier League at the moment. To say he is playing for a relegation-threatened Wolves, who are currently 17th in the league, he is not playing like it.
The Brazilian has 10 goals and four assists in 19 top-flight games this season, having had a hand in almost half of his club’s 31 goals.
A number of big clubs have taken an interest in Cunha, including Arsenal, who Football Insider report are ‘exploring a January move’ for the striker, and are currently ‘pushing’ to get it done.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are reportedly back in the frame to sign Brighton & Hove Albion star Evan Ferguson, though they will need to brush two London rivals aside first.
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