Journalist shares how a very upset Mikel Arteta did something he’s never seen before after Arsenal’s win over Sunderland
A BBC journalist and commentator recently said he’s never seen an Arsenal manager’s post-match interview quite like Mikel Arteta’s after his team’s 2-0 win over Sunderland. Arsenal kept their perfect start to the Premier League season with this win at the Stadium of Light.
Bruno Guimaraes scored a great goal in the second half, and Bukayo Saka sealed the win with a late penalty. But the game wasn’t easy — Sunderland had a penalty awarded against Arsenal for a foul in the box, which Arteta was very upset about. Luckily, David Raya made an amazing save to keep Sunderland from scoring.
The penalty was given when Ezri Konsa was judged to have pulled Dan Ballard down too hard. Even after a VAR review, the decision stood. Surprisingly, this penalty didn’t help Sunderland because their kicker missed, and then Arsenal scored soon after.
Even though the win was nice, Arteta couldn’t hide how angry he was about that penalty call, calling it “completely unacceptable.” Steven Wyeth, the BBC commentator, was surprised how much Arteta kept talking about the penalty during the post-match interview, not wanting to discuss much else.
Arteta told the BBC, “I’m very worried and sad because that should never be a penalty. The opponent just does a judo roll. We have VAR and lots of cameras to protect the game, but today the game wasn’t protected, and it could have cost us the match and momentum — which is a serious issue.”
At the press conference, Arteta said, “This isn’t acceptable at this level. I’ve watched it over and over and can’t understand how it’s a penalty or why VAR didn’t change the decision. It’s sad we have to focus on this after such a great match because decisions like this can affect a whole season or even the championship. It just can’t happen.”
He added, “Look at it — it’s a judo roll. How is that a penalty? I’m trying to find an explanation, but honestly, I don’t have one. I wished I could talk about the game, how well we played, how tough Sunderland were, and how great the league is.”
Arteta also praised David Raya’s incredible penalty save, saying, “We shouldn’t even be talking about this or that save — it was amazing.” When asked about Guimaraes’ goal, he smiled and said, “I’ve watched that one 20 times, the penalty only about 10.”