Mikel Arteta refused to accept VAR’s decision after Arsenal were denied what he considered a “very clear” penalty during their goalless stalemate at the City Ground.
The contentious moment arrived in the second half when the ball struck Forest defender Ola Aina’s arm inside the box.
Officials reviewed the incident but concluded the ball had initially made contact with Aina’s shoulder before hitting his arm, which they deemed to be in a natural position.
The Arsenal manager remained unconvinced by the explanation, expressing his frustration at what he considered an obvious handball that should have resulted in a penalty.
The Arsenal boss said: “It hits the shoulder and then he takes the ball with the hand.
“The explanation is not right, but then the rest, it’s OK.
“The order is OK, but the timing and the intention is very clear. If not, I wouldn’t be sitting here saying, in my opinion, it’s a very clear penalty.”
The draw did see Arsenal extend their lead at the top to seven points, which could be cut to four on Sunday if Aston Villa beat Everton, and they remain clear favourites to get their hands on the Premier League trophy for the first time in 22 years.
Mikel Arteta refused to accept VAR’s decision
|
GETTY
But the missed opportunities could prompt some doubts in the Gunners camp as they have let leads at the top of the table slip in the past, notably when they were eight points clear of City in April 2023 only to fall short.
Arteta said: “Obviously, we came here to win the game and we haven’t managed that for different reasons.
“But we created four massive chances, with (Gabriel) Martinelli an open goal, Declan Rice a tap-in, Mikel (Merino) and the header of Bukayo (Saka).
“And on top of that, there is a very clear penalty that has not been given.”
Arsenal let slip a golden opportunity to establish a commanding nine-point advantage at the Premier League summit | GETTY
He added: “So without conceding a single shot on target again, to find that we haven’t won the game with that is disappointing.
“On top of that, I think we can do things better.
“Every week is an opportunity, we want to win every game. If we did that we would have been in a different position. But we made a step, not as much as we wanted, but we made a step.
“Unfortunately we haven’t won today and the opportunity that we wanted to take we haven’t managed.”
The result extends Arsenal’s lead to seven points | GETTY
The Gunners had been handed the ideal opportunity to tighten their stranglehold on the title race after watching Manchester City fall to defeat against United in the derby earlier in the day.
Victory at Forest would have opened up a commanding nine-point advantage at the top of the table.
Instead, Arteta’s side squandered several clear-cut opportunities and were forced to settle for a point.
The frustrating result mirrored their performance nine days earlier, when they also failed to capitalise on a City stumble by drawing 0-0 against Liverpool.
Arsenal remain top but have now twice failed to punish their rivals’ slip-ups.
