LONDON (Reuters) – Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta says there is ‘huge anger’ amongst his players ahead of Wednesday’s vital clash with Manchester City after a VAR mistake cost his side two points in the title race at the weekend.
Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Brentford means leaders Arsenal are only three points ahead of champions City and could be knocked off the top if they lose at The Emirates.
Brentford’s equaliser scored by Ivan Toney stood despite his team mate 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.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
