‘I have never seen it before in my life’ – Arteta left BEMUSED by Brighton’s penalty | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta says he has never seen a penalty decision like the one which went against his Arsenal side in their 1-1 draw with Brighton.

Youngster Ethan Nwaneri opened the scoring for the Gunners but they had to settle for a point after William Saliba was penalised for a foul on Joao Pedro in the box, who converted from the spot.

Saliba was deemed to have fouled Pedro after their heads made contact but Arteta was left bemused by the decision.

“I have never seen it in my life, and Saliba touches the ball,” he said.

“I asked the boys if they have and nobody had seen it before, when you look at the incident, the distance, the players, Joao touching the ball and then Saliba touching the ball, you can see contact there.

“After three seconds they said they already checked it. Seems quick.”

The Arsenal boss also admits his team were not at their best in the draw, however.

“I’m disappointed because we want to win the game,” he said.

“We started the game with some really good actions and a really good goal.

“We knew it was going to be a really competitive and challenging game, especially as well because of the players that we have lost, but we competed.

“It wasn’t our best day, especially in the second half, we gave so many simple balls away that didn’t allow us to dominate the game and then I’m very disappointed as well with the way that he has given the penalty. Very disappointed.”