Mikel Arteta refrained from criticising Paul Tierney after many questionable decisions went against Arsenal in the North London Derby.
Mikel Arteta was not a happy man at full time, hinting at terrible refereeing decisions in the North London Derby. The Arsenal boss was livid and visibly angry at Paul Tierney’s decisions in such a pivotal game, as the Gunners lost momentum in finishing in the top four.
Ten-man Arsenal suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Tottenham, who moved closer to the Gunners in the table. With two games left in the season, there is a likelihood that fourth place may get decided on the final matchday.
Tierney’s decisions came under scrutiny after he awarded Tottenham a ‘soft penalty’ after Cedric Soares got adjudged to have fouled Son Heung-min at the far post. Later on, the referee decided to dismiss Rob Holding for a second bookable offence, and these were the decisions that irked Arteta.
The Arsenal boss was visibly angry at those decisions and vented his frustration in a controlled manner, first in his post-match interview, and later at the press conference. The Spaniard kept insisting Tierney was instrumental in destroying ‘a beautiful occasion’ such as the North London Derby.
? "If I say what I think I'll be suspended six months." ?
Mikel Arteta refuses to give his opinion on the game after Arsenal's 3-0 defeat and asks the referee to speak to the cameras pic.twitter.com/5dlJm5XTiC
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 12, 2022
On the referee, Arteta said, “I cannot do it. I just want to say that I am really proud of my players, but obviously we didn’t get the result that we wanted. I can’t wait to play on Monday.”
“I want to be on the touchline on Monday night. No [I can’t talk] because I will be suspended. You can ask the referee if he wants to come and give an assessment of the match. I can do it, but I have two options, I can lie to you, which I don’t do, or if not, I will be suspended, and I really want to be on the touchline against Newcastle.”
“That we lost the game. Obviously, we wanted to play the game and we were so excited to play a game and you’ve seen the team, how it started, the way we were playing and this beautiful occasion was destroyed and unfortunately, we could not enjoy the game that we wanted to play.”
Arsenal have an opportunity to keep their fourth place in the table when they travel to face Newcastle United on Monday. Arteta is keen to regain momentum and finish the season strongly, preferably by qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
