Arsenal were denied a 'very clear penalty' during goalless draw at Nottingham Forest, fumes Mikel Arteta - as he labels officials' explanation for not awarding spot-kick as 'not right'
A frustrated Mikel Arteta claimed that his Arsenal side should have been given a 'clear penalty' against Nottingham Forest for Ola Aina's handball incident — and that the PGMOL's explanation is 'not right'. The result left the Gunners going seven points clear at the summit — instead of nine — after second-placed Manchester City were beaten at Manchester United. Arteta said: 'We created four big, big, big chances — Gabriel Martinelli an open goal, Declan rice a tap in, Mikel (Merino) and the header from Bukayo (Saka) — and on top of that, obviously a very clear penalty in the box that hasn't been given. 'I've just seen the replays, I think it's a clear intention to clear the ball inside and it's a clear penalty so I don't understand why it's not been given.' On Arsenal's penalty claim, he said: 'I think if these start to get given, we've all got to leave it.
Source: Daily Mail January 18, 2026 03:58 UTC
