Gabriel Jesus believes he would've won a penalty against Southampton if he went down earlier under Duje Caleta-Car's challenge after a chat with referee Robert Jones.
The official decided against awarding a spot kick and Arsenal striker Jesus has since revealed what he said to Jones afterwards. The decision has split opinion, as former Premier League referee Mark Halsey believes his ex-colleague made the wrong call.
Jones' call could have a big impact on the Premier League title race. Stuart Armstrong's goal cancelled out Granit Xhaka's opener in Sunday's 1-1 draw, meaning Arsenal's lead over champions Manchester City at the top of the table is now just two points.
Speaking to Arsenal's website (via football.london ) about the decision, Jesus said: "I don’t like to talk about the referee’s decisions, I just want to talk about our performance but sometimes it can change the game.
"I spoke with him straight after and he said: 'If you go down before, maybe I can give a penalty'. But I think I was fair. I tried to hold, tried to keep standing, tried to finish the action but at the end he grabbed me and it was impossible, so I go down normally. But that is not the reason why we didn’t win the game.
"We had a lot of chances, we could’ve scored three chances in the first half, in the second half we had some chances, me as well. Like I said, what is in control is our game, our basics, we’ll try to rest now because Thursday we have another one and we’ll come back strong."
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Writing for The Sun (via The Metro ), Halsey claimed: "Arsenal should have been awarded a first-half penalty when Gabriel Jesus was hauled down by Southampton’s Duje Caleta-Car. The incident highlighted the inconsistency of decision-making by officials over holding offences this weekend, with Chelsea and Aston Villa benefiting in similar situations.
"Caleta-Car wasn’t goal-side and tried to make life difficult for Jesus but he committed himself to a clear holding offence and referee Robert Jones should have pointed to the spot. If Jones didn’t see it, VAR official Peter Bankes needed to intervene."
Yet fellow ex-referee Dermot Gallagher believes Jones made the right decision. "It's a tough call, I think there is a tangle of legs," Gallagher told Sky Sports News.
"It is untidy but it seems a little bit unfair to call it a foul because the Southampton defender does get the ball. People will say he does catch him, he plays for the ball, he is clumsy, but they are both playing for the ball. I'd say I go with the referee."
Like Jesus, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was keen not to blame Jones for his team's failure to beat Southampton. "We had three or four good opportunities and should have scored more," he told BBC Sport. "We needed two or three goals, but only scored one.
"It's disappointing. We created enough chances but couldn't put the ball away. It’s a lesson because we wanted to win again. They put us under more pressure through direct play in the second half, and we were struggling."
