Arsenal are ‘angry’ ahead of hosting Manchester City in a top of the table clash says manager Mikel Arteta.
The home side must win to avoid City drawing level at the top of the standings but the Gunners feel undone after a shocking VAR decision cost them all three points this weekend.
Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Brentford was marred by Brentford’s equaliser scored by Ivan Toney. The goal stood despite his teammate Christian Norgaard being in an offside position in the build-up, a mistake acknowledged by Professional Game Match Officials Limited as a ‘significant error’.
Lee Mason, the VAR official for the game, has since been stood down for his mistake in which he failed to draw the lines usually used to judge offside decisions.
While Arteta is pleased that the club have received an apology, he said only having two more points added to their total would compensate for the error.
“We ended the game with a huge anger because that wasn’t a human error, that was a big not understanding your job and that’s not acceptable,” Arteta, whose side have stumbled in their last two matches, told reporters on Tuesday.
“That costs Arsenal two points. We appreciate the apology and the explanation at the same time.
“I will only be satisfied if they give me the two points back which is not going to be the case.”
Arteta said Arsenal would use the sense of injustice to fire then up against Pep Guardiola’s City.
“That has made the players, staff and our fans stronger to pass this hurdle that they put on us,” the Spaniard said.
While Arsenal continued to look far from their best, City resumed their ascendency as they appeared unphased by their recent off-pitch troubles to stroll past Aston Villa 3-1 on Sunday.
The Manchester club entered the game off the back of a week dominated by news of them facing more than 100 charges of alleged financial misconduct by the Premier League, yet their on-pitch exploits were unbowed.
City boss Pep Guardiola has lifted the league crown on four occasions since joining the club in 2016 and appears to have led his side to a recovery from a mini slump of their own in recent weeks.
Losses to Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in their five matches leading up to Sunday’s victory had blotted their record.