Arsenal supervisor Mikel Arteta mentioned he has “by no means seen” a call just like the penalty awarded to Brighton in his staff’s 1-1 draw on the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
Brighton ahead Joao Pedro clashed heads with William Saliba within the field and was adjudged to have crushed the France defender to the ball, with referee Anthony Taylor hesitating earlier than pointing to the spot.
VAR cleared the choice and Pedro stepped as much as convert the penalty to stage the scores at 1-1, a end result which held till the full-time whistle and leaves Arteta’s aspect 5 factors behind runaway leaders Liverpool having performed two video games extra.
“We’re actually dissatisfied with the choice that results in the purpose as a result of I’ve by no means seen one thing like this in my life,” Arteta instructed the BBC after the sport. “He touches the ball as properly.”
The Premier League’s Match Centre posted on its X account that the penalty was awarded as there was “adequate contact” made by Saliba.
The Spanish coach added that the penalty name was not solely responsible for Arsenal dropping factors for the ninth time within the league this season, having not gained simply 10 occasions within the entirety of the 2023-24 marketing campaign.
“We did a whole lot of issues to not the usual with the ball, so we did not get any momentum, we by no means received set in areas that after we may generate probabilities and counter press in the fitting second,” Arteta mentioned.
“We conceded one likelihood after we had 10 gamers on the ground and [Yankuba] Minteh takes off. I believe now we have to do significantly better issues than at present and sadly we misplaced two factors.”
Arsenal had taken the lead within the first half via 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, who grew to become the primary participant to attain two league objectives for the membership earlier than turning 18.
Nwaneri was changed by Gabriel Martinelli at half-time, and Arteta confirmed that the younger star was withdrawn over issues for a “muscular challenge” in his post-match information convention.
Arsenal and Arteta shouldn’t have lengthy to take inventory after Saturday’s draw as they’re in Carabao Cup semifinal motion in opposition to Newcastle United on Tuesday.