Mikel Arteta shares what referees told him before the season, now they’ve gone back on their word

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Refereeing decisions have made the headlines in an Arsenal game yet again this season.

The Gunners have been on the wrong end of several ridiculous decisions so far this term. Fans are getting more and more irritated and you can’t blame them.

From the red cards to Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard for supposed offences that nobody else has been punished for to William Saliba getting sent off for a foul 50 yards away from goal, there have been some big refereeing errors.

In the Champions League game against Inter Milan on Wednesday, Arsenal were once again on the wrong end of two controversial decisions.

What referees told Mikel Arteta and Arsenal players about the handball rule

Arsenal and Inter Milan played out a very close game at the San Siro.

The Gunners dominated the game for the most part and created a few dangerous situations from the wide areas. They should’ve scored at least one goal but failed.

Inter barely created anything throughout the game, but they were given a very controversial penalty after Mikel Merino handled the ball inside the box.

The Arsenal midfielder had absolutely no time to react after a deflection, and once the referee pointed to the spot, the VAR was never going to overturn that decision.

The likes of Rio Ferdinand and Martin Keown both claimed that the incident was not worthy of a penalty, and Mikel Arteta was of the same opinion after the game.

The Arsenal manager even revealed that the referees, in a meeting before the start of the season, made it clear to him and the players that such an incident would not be a penalty.

But, at the San Siro on Wednesday night, they went back on their word.

Arteta said, as per Arsenal.com: “We were told at the start of the season that wasn’t a penalty, that was clear. Today was a different story.”

The referee made another big error during Inter Milan vs Arsenal

Istvan Kovacs was the referee for the game between Inter Milan and Arsenal in the Champions League at the San Siro on Wednesday night.

The 40-year-old did needlessly get involved and booked Gabriel Magalhaes and Lautaro Martinez for absolutely no reason before a corner.

He gave a few soft fouls to Inter too, but the biggest mistake of the game came when he denied a penalty to Merino after Yann Sommer punched his face.

Kovacs ignored it on the pitch and the VAR backed him up. That was frustrating for Arsenal fans and the frustration got worse after Inter were awarded a penalty just before half-time.

Arsenal have every right to feel hard done by following the defeat at the San Siro.