Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta rued a controversial penalty decision that cost his side a 1-0 defeat against Inter Milan in their Champions League clash.
Mikel Merino was penalised for a handball in the box that stopped a flick-on from Mehdi Taremi, and Hakan Calhanoglou stepped up to slot home the resulting penalty, sending David Raya the wrong way.
Calhanoglou’s striker from 12 yards out on the stroke of half time proved to be the matchwinner as Arsenal struggled to break down Inter’s resolute defence.
Both sides hadn’t conceded a Champions League goal heading into Wednesday’s eagerly awaited meeting, but only Inter emerged from San Siro Stadium with their spotless defensive record intact.
Inter’s penalty decision didn’t go down well with Arteta, and the Spanish tactician didn’t hold back when assessing his side’s narrow defeat at a post-match press conference.
Arteta said (via BBC): “The performance, the attitude, the dominance that we showed against one of the best teams in Europe in this stadium, I haven’t seen it in all the games that I’ve watched.
“But the reality at the end is the result, and we participated in that because we have many situations that we can resolve much better in front of goal.
“Extremely frustrated as well because there are two decisions that at the end mark that result and the cause of the game.
“What I don’t understand is a deflection that is no danger at all, but they decide that it’s a penalty.”
Defeat at San Siro made it back-to-back defeats for Arsenal, having lost their most recent Premier League outing against Newcastle United by an identical scoreline.
Despite the defeat, Arteta’s side are just two points away from the top eight and will still fancy their chances of securing automatic qualification for the knockout rounds.
Meanwhile, their immediate attention turns to another box office clash this weekend when they head west of the capital to take on Chelsea in a fiery London derby.