Mikel Arteta laments penalty call as Arsenal slips up at Everton, losing vital points

Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta voiced his disagreement with the decision to grant Everton a penalty following a foul by Myles Lewis-Skelly, as his team’s hopes of clinching the Premier League title slipped further away with a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park on Saturday.

Currently in second place, Arsenal find themselves 11 points behind league leaders Liverpool, having played one more match, while Liverpool face Fulham on Sunday.

Leandro Trossard had put Arsenal in front, but a lapse in concentration defensively allowed Everton winger Jack Harrison to go down under pressure from Lewis-Skelly early in the second half.

This incident echoed an earlier match at Goodison Park this season, where Everton had a penalty against Manchester United overturned due to VAR’s Matt Donohue determining that Ashley Young had gone down too easily.

“In my opinion, it’s never a penalty,” Arteta told TNT Sports, not offering further detail. “I’m extremely disappointed with the result. It’s a challenging venue where if you don’t handle the physical play well, you struggle to gain momentum.”

“We took the lead to gain more control and create additional chances. However, our start to the second half was lacking; we squandered possession and were indecisive about our approach.”

Arteta lamented the number of opportunities missed in the second half, though he acknowledged that Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made several exceptional saves.

“We had significant chances that we failed to convert, aside from the goal. Everton didn’t create any further threats apart from the penalty.”

This result marks Arsenal’s 11th draw of the season, with only Everton having more, at 14 draws.

“To be champions, you need to secure many more victories, particularly when there’s a team (Liverpool) that continually wins,” Arteta conceded.

With a Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid looming on Tuesday, Arsenal have little time to dwell on this outcome.

“We aimed to give minutes to some players while resting others (in preparation for Tuesday’s match), but we wanted all three points,” Arteta stated.