Arteta while speaking about the referee’s call said, “I have never seen it in my life, and Saliba touches the ball. For me, a clear no penalty.”
By Kehinde Okeowo
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta has admitted his team wasn’t in their best form during their 1-1 draw against Brighton on Saturday night.
Speaking after the encounter the Gunners’ gaffer also said he was left bemused with the penalty decision against his team during the game.
Arsenal missed the opportunity to reduce that gap between them and table topping Liverpool following a controversial spot-kick awarded to the Seagulls.
Ethan Nwaneri opened the scoring for the visitors in the first half but the hosts levelled after referee Anthony Taylor deemed Saliba had headbutted Pedro inside the box.
Pedro then stepped forward and sent off David Raya the wrong way to ensure the match ended in a draw.
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Reflecting on the encounter, Arteta said, “We are disappointed as well with the way the penalty is given. Very disappointed.
“I have never seen it in my life, and Saliba touches the ball. For me, a clear no penalty.”
On his team’s performance, the Spanish tactician added: “We have to do a lot of things much better. We are playing every three days. But in terms of the quality we deliver and the consistency and the simple things, they have to be right against a really good team. Today wasn’t to the standard required to win the game with margins.”
Arsenal after the draw are now in the second position ahead of Nottingham Forest and Chelsea who are in the third and fourth places on the Premier League’s log table respectively.
Liverpool, however, have the opportunity to extend the gap on the rest of the teams to 8 points when they take on Manchester United today.
