Arsenal have been hit with a Football Association charge following their goalless draw with Newcastle on Tuesday night.
However, despite the histrionics of Mikel Arteta on the touchline throughout the Emirates Stadium stalemate - with the Spaniard having been heavily criticised for his antics - it is the conduct of his players that the FA has taken exception to.
The charge relates to an incident in the fifth minute of stoppage time, when a number of Arsenal players surrounded referee Andrew Madley to claim a penalty for a possible handball. Madley, who issued nine yellow cards in what became a fractious and scrappy encounter at the Emirates, dismissed their appeals.
An FA statement said: "Arsenal has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E20.1 following its Premier League match against Newcastle United FC on Tuesday 3 January 2023.
"It’s alleged that Arsenal FC failed to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion during the 95th minute, and the club has until Tuesday 10 January 2023 to respond."
The FA has elected to take exception to the conduct of the Premier League leaders' players rather than their manager, who was, on a number of occasions, told to calm down by the fourth official, Jarred Gillett, as he ranted and raved on the touchline. Arteta felt his team first should have been awarded a penalty on the hour mark, when Newcastle defender Dan Burn appeared to tug Gabriel's shirt as he tried to meet a dangerous free kick.
His conduct even drew the ire of Toon boss Eddie Howe late on, as Arteta fumed over the decision to give five minutes of added time, before he again made his feelings clear when Madley waved away appeals for a handball against Jacob Murphy, moving angrily towards Howe and the Newcastle bench.
On neither occasion did VAR intervene with the on-field decisions.
Speaking to Sky Sports post-game Arteta blasted Madley's performance, insisting that two "scandalous" penalty decisions had been made.
Asked about his side's display, Arteta said: “[I am] Extremely proud of my players. The way we played the game, the way we controlled the game and we missed in the final third. We had so many situations to finish them better and then we had two scandalous penalties.”
When he was pressed over what penalty decision he felt most aggrieved by, Arteta added: "They are two penalties, it's very simple. It is not about which one was stronger, we had two penalties. I am not talking about the referee, I am talking about what I saw and that was two scandalous penalties."
It would appear that by "not talking about the referee" directly, Arteta remained on the right side of the FA's disciplinary committee - something his players didn't manage when making their on-field displeasure known.
