Mikel Arteta was left furious with the decision to award Sunderland a penalty despite Arsenal eventually leaving the Stadium of Light with a 2-0 victory.
David Raya prevented the controversial call from costing the Gunners when he saved Enzo Le Fée’s second-half spot-kick.
Bruno Guimarães then scored just two minutes later before Bukayo Saka converted a stoppage-time penalty to complete the win.
ReadArsenal’s Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal match report has the full story from Arsenal’s fourth successive Premier League victory.
Arteta furious with Sunderland penalty
The incident came when Ezri Konsa was judged to have brought down former Arsenal defender Dan Ballard as Sunderland attacked from a corner.
Referee John Brooks immediately pointed to the spot and VAR did not overturn the decision.
Arteta strongly disagreed.
Speaking after the game, Arteta told TNT Sports that the decision was “unacceptable at this level” and warned that calls of that magnitude could influence an entire title race.
The Arsenal boss argued that Ballard had effectively rolled Konsa to the ground rather than being fouled himself.
The controversy comes only days after ReadArsenal reported that the Premier League admitted a VAR mistake in Arsenal’s victory over Aston Villa.
David Raya bails Arsenal out
Fortunately for Arsenal, the decision did not change the result.
Raya pushed Le Fée’s penalty onto the post before Guimarães produced a superb curling finish at the other end moments later. Reuters reported that Arteta described Raya as a player capable of deciding matches when Arsenal need him most.
The goalkeeper consequently earned a 9/10 in ReadArsenal’s Arsenal player ratings against Sunderland.
Arteta was delighted with Arsenal’s resilience, but his reaction made clear that the penalty decision remained a major concern even after another victory.
Arsenal now have 12 points from their opening four Premier League matches and sit top of the table ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby.
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