Mikel Arteta's Outrage Over Unacceptable Penalty Decision

Mikel Arteta raged over a “judo” challenge he insists should have earned his side a season-defining penalty, branding the decision “unacceptable at this level” despite his team’s dramatic victory.

The manager said he had watched the incident “ten times” after seeing it live and could not believe no spot-kick was given.

“Yes. I’m so upset. It’s unacceptable at this level. Unacceptable,” Arteta said. “This can change the course of a season, the championship, and it’s not acceptable.

“I’ve seen it ten times to make sure because I watched it live and I said, it’s not possible at this level, there’s going to be a penalty because it’s a judo role. That’s what it is. It just cannot happen.”

Arteta, who has spent close to three decades in the game, was adamant there was no room for debate over the call.

“Not in my view, in any view that has played football,” he said. “I’ve been in football for almost 27 years, 28 years, it’s not a penalty in any case, in any game, in any context, in any league.”

The controversy came at the end of a draining contest that his side still found a way to win, and Arteta turned quickly to praise the mentality of his players.

“That is the unbelievable players that we have,” he said. “And the spirit and the courage to go again, and again, again. I am so pleased in one sense and so worried in another.”

One of his match-winners drew special acclaim, the kind of player Arteta believes tilts tight games when the pressure bites hardest.

“Unbelievable. Again,” he said. “He’s a player that decides football matches when we need.”

Arteta also went out of his way to highlight Sunderland’s display, stressing that the visitors had made life as difficult as anyone this season.

“Big credit to Sunderland as well, the way they play, the way they are coached,” he said. “What they do because they are a really good team. I don’t want to take any credit out of them because they really deserve a lot of credit for how hard they make it for you.

“Not only that, in periods they play, have courage, and have a great understanding of what they have to do throughout the game. It’s been extremely tough, really happy that we’ve done it.”

Arteta left the pitch with three points and a simmering sense of injustice. If he is right that decisions like this can tilt a title race, the argument over that “judo” moment is unlikely to disappear any time soon.