A seething Mikel Arteta believes that Arsenal should have been awarded two penalties in their 0-0 draw with Newcastle United and blasted the "scandalous" decisions not to award his side at least one spot kick.
The Gunners missed the chance to move 10 points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, being frustrated by a defensive masterclass from Eddie Howe's men.
However, Arsenal had two strong shouts for penalties in the second half, firstly when Gabriel Magalhaes appeared to have been hauled down to the ground after having his shirt pulled by Dan Burn.
Andy Madley saw nothing wrong with the incident, nor did VAR official Stuart Attwell, and Arsenal players furiously appealed for a handball against Jacob Murphy right at the death.
In the fifth minute of second-half injury time, the ball struck Murphy on the arm inside the box as he tried to stop a cross, but to Arteta's anger, Arsenal were once again denied a penalty.
© Reuters
Arteta and Howe briefly exchanged words on the touchline as the former made his feelings on the matter clear, and the Arsenal boss was left infuriated at the officials' decision following the match.
"It's not about stronger, it's two penalties. That's very simple. I'm talking about what I've seen now. It's two scandalous penalties," the 40-year-old told Sky Sports News.
Addressing the incident further in his post-match press conference, Arteta added: "I'm really proud, of the way we played, the way we dominated the game. We lacked that spark in the final third to find the opening to find the right moment and extra pass and a little bit the finishing quality.
"We had a lot of situations around the box to do better and then those penalties. Both of them. It's not particular. It's a penalty or not a penalty and these are both penalties."
Arsenal had won all seven of their previous Premier League home games this season before being nullified by Newcastle, who also became the first team to keep a top-flight clean sheet against the Gunners this term.
© Reuters
Arsenal largely dominated proceedings and pressed hard for the winning goal in the final 10 minutes, but Arteta admitted that his side lacked a killer instinct and would aim to address those problems in the transfer market.
"I feel the team was on top, we were chasing it, we really wanted it. You could see the team was doing everything to win it. We lacked that in the final third and then we lacked the two big decisions obviously," Arteta said.
"They wanted to win. We threw everything at it to get the points. We could not do it. But I think we should be very proud of the performance against a really good side.
"We are really trying to improve the squad in every window. We're trying to do our best because we cannot waste any windows still with the squad and the numbers that we have. We will try."
Arsenal, who are next in action against Oxford United in Monday's FA Cup third-round tie, now hold an eight-point lead over Man City before the champions tackle Chelsea on Thursday night.
Ben Knapton
