Mikel Arteta claims he has a ‘big opinion’ on controversial refereeing decisions that saw Arsenal be denied a penalty and a late equaliser in their loss to Aston Villa… as the Gunners boss says the calls were ‘clear and obvious’

• Mikel Arteta has fumed at two VAR decisions after Arsenal’s loss to Aston Villa
• The Gunners were denied a penalty and a last-gasp equaliser on Saturday night
• It will do Arsenal no harm at all to have Arteta out of sight at Villa Park – It’s All Kicking Off

Mikel Arteta has fumed at two refereeing decisions that denied his side a penalty and a late equaliser during Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday night. 

John McGinn scored the only goal of the game, to help send the midlands outfit to third in the Premier League, just one point behind Arsenal, with the Gunners suffering their second defeat of the season. 

But many Arsenal fans felt aggrieved at full-time, with referee Jarred Gillet failing to award them a second-half penalty after Douglas Luiz kicked Gabriel Jesus inside the penalty area, bringing his Brazil team-mate to the ground. 

The Gunners were also denied an equaliser in the 90th minute of the match, with Kai Havertz appearing to handle the ball in the goalmouth, before Eddie Nketiah bundled the ball into the back of the net. 

When asked about both of the decisions at full-time, Arteta initially deflected away from making comments on the calls. But when pressed on whether he has any thoughts on the two calls, he told Sky Sports: ‘I do, a big opinion.’

Arsenal boss has fumed at two refereeing decisions that denied Arsenal a penalty and a late equaliser during their loss against Aston Villa 

The Gunners boss, who has been critical of officials already this season, said the decisions ‘were clear and obvious’ 

Gabriel Jesus was pulled down inside the Aston Villa penalty area by Douglas Luiz 

He fielded similar questions in a seperate interview with BBC Match of the Day, and when asked about the two decisions, he said: ‘Clear and obvious.’

Arteta was asked to clarify what he meant by that brief statement, with the reporter asking him whether he meant that the decisions were not obvious to be overturned or whether they were wrong.  

‘That’s what I mean, clear and obvious. That’s my opinion, that’s all I can say,’ he said frostily. 

‘I will not speak about it anymore,’ when pressed a third time on the matter. 

His comments come after the Spaniard previously hit out at refereeing decisions that have cost his side this season, with Arteta claiming that his side would revolt again after the club backed his scathing comments of officials following their loss to Newcastle. 

Despite the result, Arteta, who was serving a touchline ban, also claimed that his side were the better team during the match, claiming that Arsenal were just not clinical enough in front of goal. 

‘I’m really proud of the way the team played in this stadium against this team,’ he said to BBC Match of the Day. 

‘We deserved to win the game but you have to be better in the boxes and things have to go your way as well.’

On his side’s struggles in front of goal, he said: ‘That was one of the things [failure to put the ball in the net]. 

‘Especially in the second half we lost a bit of control, we gave the ball away, we went in to attack the ball too fast because you are tempted to put the ball in behind with the way they defend with the line but we could have done a bit better.’

Villa have now leapt into the title race, sitting just two points clear of Liverpool at the top and Arteta lauded Saturday night’s opponents. 

The Brazilian appealed for the spot-kick but it wasn’t given by the referrer nor by VAR review 

Kai Havertz was also deemed to have handled the ball in the build up to Eddie Nketiah’s late goal

The incident came in the dying embers of tha match and could have seen Arsenal seal a draw

Despite that John McGinn’s goal was enough to see Aston Villa record another impressive victory 

‘They are there and with the home record they have they fully deserve to be where they are because when you win as many games at home they deserve the credit,’ he added. 

Jesus, echoed his manager’s sentiments, suggesting that Arsenal could have had more decisions go their way in the match but will need to accept the loss.  

‘I felt touch but I don’t know the rules so probably for them its no penalty I can’t do nothing I felt someone touch me and anyway its their decision,’ he said to Premier League Productions.

‘I don’t know if the goal is clear handball. We don’t know we just have to accept it and focus to go again next game and then maybe we can have some better decisions.’

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify

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