Mikel Arteta finds himself in a rare position this week as he is tasked with rallying his Arsenal players in an attempt to get them to recover from a league defeat.
The 1-0 loss away at Everton on Saturday afternoon marked just their second league defeat all season and while they remain top for the time being, the Gunners boss will know that every single dropped point only ramps up the pressure with nearest challengers Manchester City chomping at their heels.
The clash was not littered without controversial moments, such as Gabriel’s penalty that never was, but Arteta choose to use his post-match media presser as a chance to reinforce his ‘love‘ for his players and get behind them with big games against Brentford and title rivals City coming up.
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes was left furious he was tripped by Everton striker Neal Maupay but it wasn’t awarded as a penalty, though it has since been explained why a spot-kick wasn’t given.
With the Gunners chasing the game late on after falling behind, Gabriel strode into the box before it appeared as if he had been tripped by Maupay, which in turn sent the Brazilian centre-back clattering into Idrissa Gueye.
Referee David Coote actually awarded Everton a free-kick as a result of the coming together and though VAR analysed the incident, those in Stockley Park opted to stand by Coote’s on-field decision.
Former Premier League referee Peter Walton has since explained why, telling BT Sport: “Well actually the initiation of contact was from the Arsenal player so I don’t think this will be given as a penalty kick, certainly there was enough contact there, but not a penalty kick.”
Read the full story HERE. Alex Iwobi makes feelings on Arteta clear.
Alex Iwobi enjoyed a bright display against his old side at Goodison Park, with the Everton ace a thorn in the side of Arsenal all afternoon.
The winger netted 15 goals in 149 appearances for the Gunners after graduating from the club’s famed Hale End academy set-up.
He joined Everton in 2019 for a fee of £34million, which raised eyebrows at the time.
He clearly harbours no ill-feeling towards his old club, as Iwobi took to social media after Everton’s victory to write: “Nice To See Some Old Faces, Even Better To Win!”.
Iwobi even took the step of singling out Arteta, whom he shared the Arsenal dressing room with while the Spaniard was still playing himself for the Gunners.
The Nigerian international uploaded a picture of the pair embracing alongside the caption: “Big respect!”.
Find the full story HERE. Rodri hands Arsenal Haaland warning.
City midfielder Rodri has warned Arsenal that their star striker Erling Haaland could net a goal in every single game for the rest of the season.
For all of Arsenal’s brilliance this term, they simply do not boast the kind of goal-scoring machine that City possess in Haaland, who could prove to be the difference between the two sides in the race for the title.
“Rodri seems to think so, as he said:”We feel like we have a weapon to fear the opponents.
“Of course, we have switched different things to the way we used to play before, before we didn’t have this weapon and now he is always a guarantee of scoring goals – and I think he can score more than one goal in every game.”