Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg spoke to Arsenal Insider on an incident in Arsenal vs Manchester United that had fans furious.
Arsenal supporters everywhere are furious to say the least, as for the third consecutive Premier League game, the Gunners dropped points.
With the title race heating up, Mikel Arteta’s side needed to prove a point when fierce rivals Man United visited N5, but they did the opposite.
After taking the lead, Arsenal’s levels dropped dramatically, seeing United equalise before the interval, only to score another two in the second half.
Amid dissatisfaction with Arsenal’s performance, fans on social media fumed over a missed penalty shout, an incident for which Clattenburg has given his verdict.
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Mark Clattenburg comments on Arsenal penalty shout in Man United defeat
On X, several Arsenal fans were seething about a challenge on Gabriel Jesus committed by Lisandro Martinez.
Martinez, the own-goal scorer of Arsenal’s opener, was seen to almost ride on the back of Jesus in the penalty area in the 54th minute of play.
On top of that, the Argentine looked as though he threw an arm out at the Arsenal striker’s head, which the Brazilian felt, clutching the back of his head.
Reacting to the incident, one fan wrote, “Not even a VAR check,” as another supporter replied, “Punched in the chest then the head. Unbelievable!”
Plenty of X users reacted, wondering why VAR did not even check the incident, but Clattenburg knows why.
“Some people are arguing that Lisandro Martinez should have been penalised for climbing over Gabriel Jesus.
“Any contact that was worthy of punishing was when the ball had left the field of play, so a penalty could not be awarded. This must have been the same view of the VAR.”
The ball was out of play at the point of Martinez’s clambering over the Arsenal star, but then came the argument of whether the United defender could have been called up for foul play.
On that claim, Clattenburg said, “Not sure that was a violent act as it was more of a pushing action.”
It wasn’t a penalty, nor a red card offence, which answers those questions.
When it comes to questions asked of Arsenal’s performance, however, the inquest will be lengthy.
Penalty shouts mean nothing when Arsenal were so poor
There was a penalty shout and a handball shout that Mike Dean explained, but the reality is, no intervention from PGMOL could hide the abysmal display the Gunners put on.
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Explain your answer!
At home to their rivals with no wins in the previous two games, Arsenal had to win in whatever way possible.
Instead, the Gunners asked for a defeat, shying away from the challenge to see United walk away with three points.
The gap at the top of the table is just four points, and, punishingly, the recent performances reflect why the gap has reduced.
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