Former Premier League referee as delivered a surprise verdict on the penalty decision that had Mikel Arteta fuming, despite Arsenal’s win over Sunderland last night.
The Gunners continued their flawless start to the new campaign with hard earned 2-0 win at the Stadium of Light.
Rather than focus on the finer points of a sixth win from six matches in all competitions, Arteta was left with a bitter taste in his mouth after his side conceded a contentious spot kick at the start of the second period.
John Brooks penalised Ezri Konsa for a holding offence at the near post following a Kevin Danso long throw, but replays suggested Dan Ballard had initiated the contact and pulled the England defender over the top of him.
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VAR, however, upheld the on-field decision with Brooks noting Konsa’s body was facing ‘the wrong way’ at the time Ballard fell to the floor.
Thankfully for Arsenal, goalkeeper David Raya made an extraordinary save to deny Enzo Le Fee, just minutes before Bruno Guimaraes fired the champions into the lead with his first goal for his new club.
Despite another three points, rubber stamped by Bukayo Saka’s injury-time penalty, Arteta struggled to hire his ire in his post-match press conference and his views were supported by a number of pundits, including Match Of The Day pundits Ashley Williams and Thomas Frank.
‘I think he’s got it completely wrong, said the former Wales international defender. ‘Look at Ezri Konsa’s left shoulder, it’s pulled down by Dan Ballard. It means he spins round and means that he obviously lands on top of Dan Ballard.
‘Mikel Arteta is right, it’s almost like a perfect hip toss in judo. He’s got hold of him and if you look at Ezri Konsa’s elbow getting driven down, he can’t do anything about it at this point, he has to roll over. It’s very clever by Dan Ballard, but no way is it a penalty.
‘If anything this has to be a foul the other way. Now they’ve given that penalty they’ve set themselves up and have to be consistent and give that as a penalty every single week.’
Frank, meanwhile, suggested it was odd to see a decision of that nature in the fourth week of the season given the number of similar supposed offences that have already been committed during previous game weeks.
Former general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, Keith Hackett, took a different view, however, suggesting it was a bout time officials started clamping down on shirt pulling and wrestling from set-pieces.
‘Amazing – they are conditioned and have allowed grappling to blight our game,’ he wrote on X, responding a video of Williams and Frank giving their assessments.
‘Good to see a ref do something about it.’
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It remains to be seen whether or not Arteta will face recriminations for his own forthright view of an incident that he felt could have derailed the early season momentum Arsenal have generated.
He said: ‘Look, the first question we have to discuss is that this is not acceptable at this level.
‘It was a beautiful game of football, with two teams and an atmosphere in the stadium that was unbelievable, with Sunderland they are so organised; they are so good in so many phases, they have great players, they created a lot of issues we had to cope with.
‘We had to cope with all of that, it was a lot in a really difficult week after Chelsea and Napoli, and on top of that we have to go through what we’ve done today that in my opinion is not acceptable.
‘I watched it 20 times, and I cannot find a way to understand how they even think to give a penalty in that situation, or the way the VAR has to intervene.
‘So I don’t know what to think, but I’m sad that we have to discuss in such a beautiful game something at this level that has the gravity of that, because that changes the course of the season and can cost you the championship. At this level, with all the work that we put in, this cannot happen. I cannot find an explanation – that’s why I’m going to try and find an explanation now.
‘I want to be talking about how good we were, how good Sunderland were, and the level of the league and how beautiful this is – we should not be talking about that. I cannot find an explanation – that’s why I’m going to try and find an explanation now.’