Mikel Arteta fumes at Sunderland penalty decision after Arsenal survive scare

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has described the decision to award Sunderland a penalty in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat as not acceptable, according to Sunderland Echo. Ezri Konsa was judged to have committed a holding offence on Dan Ballard inside the box, with VAR confirming referee David Brooks’ decision. However, David Raya kept Arsenal ahead by saving Enzo Le Fee’s spot-kick before Bruno Guimaraes broke the deadlock with a stunning strike moments later.

Arteta praised Sunderland’s performance and the atmosphere at the Stadium of Light, admitting Arsenal had to suffer through difficult and chaotic moments to secure victory. The Arsenal boss said he had watched the penalty incident 20 times but still could not understand why the spot-kick was awarded or why VAR intervened.