“There’s no way”: Arteta frustrated by Everton penalty as Arsenal’s title hopes take a hit

Mikel Arteta expressed his disbelief after Arsenal were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Everton at Goodison Park, a result that may prove costly in their Premier League title chase.

The match turned when referee Darren England pointed to the spot, judging that Myles Lewis-Skelly had fouled Jack Harrison inside the box. Iliman Ndiaye converted the penalty to cancel out Leandro Trossard’s earlier strike for Arsenal.

Although VAR reviewed the decision and found enough contact to support the referee’s original judgment, Arteta was far from convinced.

"The referee decides to give a penalty that changes the course of the game, which I’m here to give my opinion [on] and, after seeing it 15 times, there’s no way that, in my opinion, that’s a penalty," he said.

Arteta also questioned the consistency of officiating: "Because if there is, then [Jake] O’Brien has to be out and Everton has to play with 10 men, that’s clear."

Despite dominating for long spells, Arsenal couldn’t find a second goal. Arteta lamented the lack of rhythm in the game and his side’s own role in disrupting momentum: "We didn’t get too much momentum because it’s constantly breaking the play and a big part of that was down to us, because after direct play we get very cheap free-kicks away."

The manager pointed out that his side had chances to win it late on but failed to make them count: "We had two big chances to win the game, we didn’t convert them, so we have to accept the point."

"I think we deserve more, but that’s what we got at the end. This is a really tough place to come," he added, acknowledging Everton’s approach: "What they do, they do it really well. Constantly putting the balls into the last line, dealing with direct play and second actions."

Arteta found positives in the defensive display but rued missed opportunities: "I think we haven’t conceded anything in the game, which was really positive. We were 1-0 up, had some big opportunities, ran into spaces, we didn’t finalise the actions."