Arsenal will be frustrated in the wake of their first Premier League defeat of the season.
Mikel Arteta vented his own anger following the 3-1 defeat to Manchester United, aiming most of his annoyance in the direction of VAR. The refereeing assistant system has been heavily criticised for some high profile mistakes this weekend, and Arsenal will feel that they got the wrong end of the decision at Old Trafford, too.
In the lead up to what looked like Gabriel Martinelli's first-half opener, the Brazilian was played through following a brilliant pass from Bukayo Saka. VAR would rule out the goal though, with Martin Odegaard adjudged to have fouled Christian Eriksen in the build-up.
READ MORE: Mikel Arteta calls for ‘consistency’ after big VAR calls cost Arsenal in Man United defeat
Odegaard had won the ball from Eriksen, leading to Saka who threaded Martinelli through. Joyous scenes followed only for fans to be left angry once more. In what looked like a 50-50 challenge, Odegaard was said to have fouled Eriksen, putting his knee in front of the Danish midfielder, but the Arsenal skipper felt otherwise, saying, "In my opinion, it's never a foul. For me, it is very, very soft. On the camera, you can always make it look a little bit worse. It's frustrating.
"I barely touched him, they keep saying this is the Premier League and want it to be physical. I don't understand how he can go back on it."
United would then go on to score first, denting Arsenal's controlled start to the game in which they ended with 61 per cent possession.
Eriksen himself had a different view on the incident and baffled watchers with his response come the end of it. When asked about his thoughts on the match Eriksen said, "It was a fun football game. A lot of things were happening in both ends."
He then went on to say, "It was a lovely afternoon." After such frustrations during the game, Eriksen's ability to not only be at the centre of the drama but also move on from it so quickly has frustrated fans.
Arteta was not as complimentary as the United midfielder, saying: “I haven’t seen the action but what they said is that it was a soft foul, so it’s just [about] consistency. The soft foul on Bukayo Saka with Mings is not a penalty last week, the soft foul against Aaron Ramsdale when we concede a goal against Villa, it’s a goal.
“So just consistency. There’s nothing we can do now, it’s too late, but it’s just consistency.”
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