Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said he has “never seen” a decision like the penalty awarded to Brighton in his team’s 1-1 draw at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
Brighton forward Joao Pedro clashed heads with William Saliba in the box and was adjudged to have beaten the France defender to the ball, with referee Anthony Taylor hesitating before pointing to the spot.
VAR cleared the decision and Pedro stepped up to convert the penalty to level the scores at 1-1, a result which held until the full-time whistle and leaves Arteta’s side five points behind runaway leaders Liverpool having played two games more.
“We are really disappointed with the decision that leads to the goal because I have never seen something like this in my life,” Arteta told the BBC after the game. “He touches the ball as well.”
The Premier League’s Match Centre posted on its X account that the penalty was awarded as there was “sufficient contact” made by Saliba.
The Spanish coach added that the penalty call was not solely to blame for Arsenal dropping points for the ninth time in the league this season, having not won just 10 times in the entirety of the 2023-24 campaign.
“We did a lot of things not to the standard with the ball, so we didn’t get any momentum, we never got set in areas that after we could generate chances and counter press in the right moment,” Arteta said.
“We conceded one chance when we had 10 players on the floor and [Yankuba] Minteh takes off. I think we have to do much better things than today and unfortunately we lost two points.”
Arsenal had taken the lead in the first half through 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, who became the first player to score two league goals for the club before turning 18.
Nwaneri was replaced by Gabriel Martinelli at half-time, and Arteta confirmed that the young star was withdrawn over concerns for a “muscular issue” in his post-match news conference.
Arsenal and Arteta do not have long to take stock after Saturday’s draw as they are in Carabao Cup semifinal action against Newcastle United on Tuesday.