Arsenal’s interim captain, Alexandre Lacazette has slammed referee’s decisions that went against his team Arsenal, in their 1-2 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.
Arsenal who are in fine form tested yet another defeat to the big guns and leader of them all, Manchester City thanks to a controversially-awarded Riyad Mahrez penalty and a stoppage-time winner from Rodri.
Alexandre Lacazette reacting to the defeat on Saturday 1st January 2022, took to his official social media handle to blast referee Stuart Attwell’s controversial decisions, saying:
“I Don’t think we deserved those decisions but I’m proud of my team and thank you fans for never giving up on us, you were amazing !,” he added.
Arsenal were the better side early on at Emirates Stadium, and Bukayo Saka swept in a deserved opener to finish off a slick move before the Gunners self-destructed after the break.
An earlier slick move had put Martin Odegaard in behind the City defence only for goalkeeper Ederson to get a touch on the ball, with the video assistant referee taking a long look before agreeing with the on-field decision that it was not a penalty.
Perhaps that added to Arsenal’s frustration when they had a penalty awarded against them after VAR intervened, but a momentary loss of composure cost them.
Gabriel’s two yellow cards came either side of Gabriel Martinelli striking the bar in what was a frantic few minutes after Mahrez levelled from the spot.
Arsenal were forced to dig in and defend after that and looked to have done enough until a hopeful cross from the right dropped to midfielder Rodri, who poked the ball beyond Aaron Ramsdale.
Despite their improvement, it means Arsenal have lost all five of their Premier League meetings under Arteta against former mentor Guardiola.
After the match, Assistant manager Albert Stuivenberg – who took charge of the match due to Arteta’s Covid isolation – said: “Mikel has the same feelings as me.”
“He is frustrated after the performance and seeing the development of the team from the start of the season to now.
“Are we able to compete against one of the best teams in the world? And we were.
“We also showed guts and played the game we wanted in the first half. In the end it is frustrating to end with zero points.”
Attwell’s display at the Emirates prompted repeated chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ and ‘2-1 to the referee’.