Mikel Arteta claims he has a ‘big opinion’ on controversial refereeing decisions that saw Arsenal be denied a penalty and a late equaliser in their loss to Aston Villa… as the Gunners boss says the calls were ‘clear and obvious’

Mikel Arteta fumed over two refereeing decisions that denied his side a penalty and a late equalizer during Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday night.

John McGinn scored the only goal of the game to help the Midlands side finish third in the Premier League, just one point behind Arsenal, as the Gunners suffered their second defeat of the season.

But many Arsenal fans felt aggrieved throughout the match, with referee Jared Gillet failing to award them a second-half penalty after Douglas Luiz kicked Gabriel Jesus in the penalty area, sending his Brazil teammate to the ground.

The Gunners also failed to equalize in the 90th minute, with Kai Havertz appearing to have the ball in goal before Eddie Nketiah headed the ball into the back of the net.

When asked about both decisions in the full game, Arteta initially avoided commenting on the calls. But when asked if he had any thoughts on the two calls, he told Sky Sports: “Yes, I have a great opinion.”

The Arsenal head coach has lashed out at two refereeing decisions that denied Arsenal a penalty and a late equalizer during their defeat to Aston Villa.

The Gunners manager, who has criticized officials this season, said the decisions “were clear and obvious”.

Gabriel Jesus was brought down by Douglas Luiz in the Aston Villa penalty area.

He asked similar questions in a separate interview with BBC Match of the Day, and when asked about the two decisions he said: “Clear and obvious.”

Arteta was asked to clarify what he meant by that brief statement, with a reporter asking him if he meant the decisions were not clear to be overturned or were wrong.

“That’s what I mean, clear and obvious.” “That’s my opinion, that’s all I can say,” he said coldly.

“I won’t talk about it anymore,” when pressed a third time.

His comments come after the Spaniard previously criticized refereeing decisions that have cost his team this season, and Arteta said his side would rise again after the club backed his harsh comments towards officials following their defeat to Newcastle. .

Despite the result, Arteta, who was serving his touchline suspension, also claimed his side were the better team during the match, claiming Arsenal simply weren’t passionless enough in front of goal.

“I’m really proud of the way the team played in this stadium against this team,” he told BBC Match of the Day.

“We deserved to win, but we need to do better in the box and everything has to go your way.”

Of his team’s struggles in front of goal, he said: “That was one of the reasons (not being able to put the ball in the net).

“Especially in the second half we lost a little bit of control, gave the ball away, started attacking the ball too quickly because you are tempted to put the ball in behind with the way they defend with the line, but we could have done it.” done a little better.

Villa have now stormed into the title race just two points behind leaders Liverpool, with Arteta praising Saturday’s opponents.

The Brazilian requested a penalty, but neither the referee nor the VAR review awarded it.

Kai Havertz was also believed to have handled a handball in the build-up to Eddie Nketiah’s late goal.

The incident occurred in the dying embers of the match and Arsenal could have sealed a draw.

Despite this, John McGinn’s goal was enough to give Aston Villa another impressive win.

“They are there and with their home results they fully deserve to be where they are because when you win that many games at home they deserve the credit,” he added.

Jesus echoed his manager’s sentiments, suggesting Arsenal could have made more decisions in the match but would have to accept defeat.

“I felt the touch, but I don’t know the rules, so it’s probably not a punishment for them. I can not do anything. I felt someone touch me and it’s their decision anyway,” he told Premier League Productions.

“I don’t know if the goal is pure hand play. We don’t know, we just need to accept it and focus on playing again in the next game and then maybe we can make better decisions.”