Arsenal were involved in two penalty shouts in the first half against Inter Milan, with only one being awarded.
Mikel Arteta’s side were on the hunt for three points in the Champions League after being starved of a win of late.
Arsenal are winless in their previous three Premier League games, which gave the clash with Inter Milan added importance.
Unfortunately, the Gunners’ luck continued at the San Siro, as Inter won the game by a goal to nil, courtesy of an extremely controversial penalty call.
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Matt Upson rages at Mikel Merino handball in Arsenal vs Inter Milan
Mikel Merino was the culprit of Arsenal conceding the penalty in the dying embers of the first half.
The Spaniard had little knowledge of the ball hitting his hand however, the Champions League has an almost zero tolerance for handball offences in the box.
As a result, Istvan Kovacs pointed to the spot, a bold call that left former Arsenal defender Matt Upson in disbelief.
Covering the game on BBC Radio 5 Live, the ex-England international expressed his dissatisfaction at the referee’s decision.
“I can’t get my head around how this is a penalty, Mikel Merino’s hand is in a perfectly natural position,” Upson said.
“The ball is skimmed off the foot of Mehdi Taremi, who is two yards away. In the Premier League it doesn’t get given as a penalty. It is ridiculous.”
Upson’s rant did not end there, as the pundit admitted the rule does his ‘head in’.
“It’s a shocking call from the referee. Arsenal in the last 15 minutes have been the better team and it’s a crazy decision from the referee to award a penalty for that.
“It does my head in the way they apply that law in Europe. We are miles ahead of that in the Premier League, the referees have the understanding of proximity, the speed of the ball and all those things were tick, tick.
“It is just a bit of common sense.”
Merino unlucky in the penalty area
It was an incredibly harsh call, as Upson summarised through his frustration, a feeling shared by Arsenal fans far and wide.
It’s not only Arsenal fans who will be raging at the decision, but football fans as a whole, with the European game maintaining rules that differ from those in the Premier League.
- READ MORE: Former Arsenal duo in total agreement over key referee decision vs Inter Milan – they have a point
For Merino, the decision would have felt considerably harsh, taking into account the fact that the Spaniard was the victim of a penalty check just moments prior to being the offender.
The Spaniard collided nastily with Yann Sommer, contact that was checked and cleared by VAR.
In a match-defining moment at the other end, Merino was on the wrong side of the referee’s opinion, costing Arsenal the game.
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