Mikel Arteta admitted he intentionally avoided looking at replays of the controversial decisions in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday so he didn’t have to give his thoughts on them.
The Gunners took the lead from the penalty spot after Kai Havertz went down, although the German was quickly accused of leaving his leg dangling to try and buy the foul, but the first half also saw Bournemouth benefit from a decision when Ryan Christie’s high challenge on Bukayo Saka was not punished with a red card.
Bournemouth thought they had pulled a goal back later on before VAR overruled the decision for the lightest of fouls on Arsenal stopper David Raya – just a matter of days after Ben White’s controversial antics against Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario in the north London derby.
The two incidents were obvious talking points after the game but Arteta had a clever plan to avoid being drawn into any debates.
“The honest answer is I haven’t seen any of the incidents, because I knew you were going to ask me,” he told the media. “So I didn’t, on purpose.
“The analyst said, ‘Do you want to watch it?’, and I said, ‘No, because then I’m going to tell the truth’. I haven’t seen them, so I cannot comment.
“I cannot have an impression on the one on David, the foul, I cannot see it because it is too far. On the one on Bukayo, I don’t know. So difficult for me to judge.”
On Havertz winning the penalty, Arteta added: “I was happy when I saw the decision. Very happy. And I was happier when Bukayo scored the goal.
“I don’t know [if it was the right decision]. Kai is not someone that dives. But I haven’t seen the images.”
The result keeps Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, but the Gunners’ title fate is out of their hands as reigning champions Manchester City, who beat Wolverhampton Wanderers, sit just one point behind and still have an extra game to play.
