CHEATED ARSENAL!! Anthony Taylor finally reveals WHY He made Arsenal penalty call yesterday – Pleaded with Arsenal supporters to accept the result
The Premier League has issued a statement on Brighton’s penalty call from the clash at Arsenal this season on Saturday night.
It came halfway through the second half when William Saliba chased Joao Pedro for the ball in the Arsenal penalty area.
The Frenchman appeared to clash heads with the Brazilian, missing the ball and calling for a decision by Anthony Taylor.
Then, after his indecision, the referee awarded Brighton a dubious penalty, which was smashed beyond David Raya by Pedro.
Well, that was a kick in the teeth for Arsenal after yet another disappointing moment during their oh-so-frustrating campaign.
Premier League statement on penalty for Brighton vs Arsenal.
There was a lot of hand-throwing in the Arsenal ranks as Brighton won the penalty, with dozens of players surrounding Taylor to complain about the decision.
It went through anyway, the Video Assistant Referee deciding not to overturn the call on the field for a penalty.
And in keeping with their new agenda of being upfront about VAR calls, the Premier League also initiated a social media account under the name Premier League Match Centre to shed some new light on calls in the league.
This was done again with the penalty, the post on X reading: “The call by the referee of penalty for a foul by Saliba on João Pedro was checked and confirmed by VAR, who considered there had been sufficient contact for a penalty.”
https://twitter.com/PLMatchCentre/status/1875617794127229403
While Arsenal may not agree with it, this is a very frustrating moment that they have to accept if they want to pick themselves up again.
Arsenal legend Alan Smith shares views on Brighton penalty
While a penalty was awarded for Brighton, one Arsenal legend seemed to be slightly puzzled by the call from Taylor.
Former striker Alan Smith said on Sky Sports: “Really unusual. I don’t think I-y ever seen a player give away a penalty like this.”
It was rare penalty to be seen given, with hardly any contact made between Saliba and Pedro, an argument can be made that it was a challenge and that the Arsenal defender missed the ball to foul the player.
Now it remains to be seen what Mikel Arteta has to say about the call after he has already suffered some really harsh decisions in an earlier fixture against Brighton this season.
