Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta risks getting sanctioned after hitting out at the match officials in Saturday afternoon's draw with Brentford at the Emirates. The former Gunners skipper has accused the officials of "changing the rules" to favor their opponents as their equalizer was supposed to have been ruled out for offside.
For a second successive game week, Arsenal passed on the opportunity to extend their lead atop the Premier League table. Going into the weekend's affair on the back of a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Everton, the Gunners were poised to turn things around with Brentford coming to town.
Following a goalless first half, they were fired in front by substitute Leandro Trossard inside the 66th minute. However, the lead lasted for barely eight minutes, with Ivan Toney grabbing the leveller for Thomas Frank's side. Initially, there was some doubt surrounding the legitimacy of the goal as Ethan Pinnock was seemingly offside in the build-up. However, it was allowed to stand following a lengthy VAR check.
With the game ending in 1-1 draw, Arsenal find themselves just six points above defending champions Manchester City. The Citizens - who will take on the Gunners next weekend - could close the gap to just three should they beat Aston Villa on Sunday. Addressing the media at the post-match press conference, under-fire Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta hit out at the match officials for the supposed inaccurate call. He said: "I just looked back and it is offside, yes."
"The action when you get blocked when you are offside. You cannot block if you are offside.
"I'm hoping the cameras and the visuals, maybe it looks like there were two actions. I don't know. It's too late, it's fine, the goal was allowed and we dropped two points.
"I'm saying the second one (an offside call against Christian Norgaard) – I don't know because you have to see the line the way they see it with the cameras. I don't know. It's irrelevant. It's gone."
"We always assess the game with them (the Premier League) and we give our views and our points. But it's too late," Arteta added.
"They will probably give an explanation later in the week. Today we haven't got one.
"You have to apply certain principles in defending and you do that by sticking to the rules, suddenly you change the rules and then you have to change your principles.
"So tell us before so then you don't hide the line that high, because you're always going to have an advantage if you get blocked."
"It is offside"
Mikel Arteta says Ivan Toney's equaliser for Brentford was offside
