Arteta Furious Over “Unacceptable” Sunderland Penalty Decision in Arsenal Win

Mikel Arteta was delighted to see Arsenal emerge from the Stadium of Light with another three Premier League points, but one incident during the dramatic 2-0 win over Sunderland clearly left the Gunners boss furious.

With the game still goalless early in the second half, Sunderland were awarded a penalty after Ezri Konsa was adjudged to have fouled Dan Ballard as the pair challenged at a corner.

It came at a particularly dangerous moment for Arsenal. As we discussed in our match report, Sunderland had come flying out after the interval and were putting Arteta’s side under considerable pressure.

David Raya ultimately came to Arsenal’s rescue by saving Enzo Le Fée’s spot-kick, before Bruno Guimarães scored his first goal for the Gunners just two minutes later.

Arteta, however, was in no mood to simply forget how close the decision had come to changing the match.

Arteta adamant Sunderland should not have had a penalty

Speaking after the game, Arteta strongly criticised the award and argued that Ballard had actually been responsible for bringing Konsa down.

As reported by The Guardian, the Arsenal boss described the situation as “unacceptable at this level” and insisted: “This can never be a penalty.”

Arteta went even further when explaining how he saw the incident:

“It’s a judo roll from the opponent. Ezri does nothing.”

The Spaniard’s concern appeared to go beyond frustration about one decision. He argued that incidents such as this need to be dealt with properly in order to protect the game and suggested Arsenal could easily have lost both the match and their early-season momentum as a consequence.

Raya ensured the controversy did not cost Arsenal

Fortunately for the Gunners, Raya made the argument academic as far as the result was concerned.

It was a massive save at a time when Sunderland had Arsenal on the ropes. BBC readers gave the Spaniard an outstanding average score player rating of 8.9!

Bruno’s spectacular opener almost immediately afterwards completely changed the momentum of the contest, before Bukayo Saka eventually made the victory safe from Arsenal’s own penalty deep into stoppage time.

Arsenal therefore escaped the Stadium of Light with their 100% Premier League record intact, but it is understandable why Arteta remains concerned.

Had Le Fée converted, Arsenal would have been 1-0 down in an extremely hostile stadium with Sunderland enjoying their best spell of the game.

Those are the moments upon which matches, and potentially points in a title race, can turn.

Arteta clearly believes Arsenal were very fortunate that Raya ensured this particular refereeing decision did not prove decisive.

What did you make of Sunderland’s penalty, Gooners? Do you agree with Arteta that Konsa did nothing wrong, or did the referee make the correct call? Let us know in the comments.

I think the footage of the incident speaks for itself..
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