Mikel Arteta was fuming with the officials after Arsenal were held by Newcastle #AFC

UNHAPPY 

Mikel Arteta slams ‘scandalous’ decisions not to award Arsenal two penalties as Newcastle dent Premier League title hopes

Mikel Arteta was outraged with the match officials after Arsenal’s goalless draw with Newcastle as he bemoaned two ‘scandalous’ penalty decisions.

The Gunners drew a blank against Eddie Howe’s side in a fiercely contested match at the Emirates, to miss the chance to move ten points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.

Arsenal pushed for a winner but were denied a penalty in injury time when referee Andy Madley waved away claims for handball after Granit Xhaka’s cross struck Jacob Murphy’s arm – much to Arteta’s frustration.

Despite dishing out nine yellow cards during the match, the Spaniard was left outraged at the decision not to award a penalty and even suggested that Arsenal deserved two.

Gabriel appeared to be hauled down by Dan Burn who was seen pulling the Brazilian defender’s shirt, but VAR failed to intervene.

The stalemnate ended an 11-game Premier League winning streak for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

“I’m really proud, the way we played, the way we dominated the game, the approach that we had from the beginning,” said Arteta.

“We lacked that spark in the final third to find that opening, to find that right moment and extra pass and a little bit of finishing quality but we had a lot of situations in and around the box to do better.

“And then there were two scandalous penalties. Both of them. It is a penalty or not a penalty and they were both penalties.”

Arteta added: “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.”

The draw moved Arsenal eight points clear, albeit that advantage could be cut to five when Manchester City travel to Chelsea on Thursday.

It was the first time the Gunners have failed to score this season.

Discussing Newcastle’s approach to the game, Arteta: “Newcastle wanted to set-up like this.

“It is not the way they play. They have not set-up like this against anyone else.

“When you cannot win you cannot lose and we kept a clean sheet and had a really good performance. Now we go again.

“I wanted to win the game and we drew it.

“We should have done some things better in the final third and we should have had two penalties to win the game.”

Newcastle remain third after becoming the first visiting team to take points off the Gunners since Brighton secured a 2-1 victory in north London in April.

The draw stretched the Magpies’ unbeaten run to 13 league matches on the back of a fourth successive clean sheet.

Manager Eddie Howe played down the hosts’ penalty appeals and said he had no problem with opposition coach Arteta following some heated touchline exchanges between the rival benches.

“I don’t actually remember the first one so I can’t give you a comment on that,” Howe said of Arsenal’s spot-kick claims.

“The handball? If it was the other way around, I would be shouting for it. Probably not with the belief that it should be given because I think the distance is too tight. I don’t think Jacob’s arm is aloft, I think it’s by his side, so for me that shouldn’t be a penalty.

“Mikel’s a top manager, I think he’s done an incredible job here and there were no issues between us.”

On the performance, Howe added: “I’m very pleased with our defensive effort today, very resilient.

“Arsenal are a top team, very good players, a very good way of playing, so we knew we had to be at our very best.”

Arsenal were denied a spot-kick after an alleged handball and the players were not happy.

Arteta was left furious on the touchline when Arsenal were denied a penalty.

It was a frustrating night for Arsenal and for Arteta, things certainly boiled over.

The Spaniard gave the fourth official an earful and wasn’t impressed with the referee post-match either.