North London duo Arsenal and Tottenham were left perplexed by refereeing decisions on an eventful Saturday in the Premier League.
Arsenal’s draw at Brighton will allow Liverpool to pull further clear at the top if they can beat out-of-form rivals Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Newcastle continued their bid for a top-four finish, Manchester City won again and Southampton’s survival hopes were dealt a further blow.
Angry Arteta
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was bemused by a controversial penalty decision which denied the Gunners victory at Brighton.
Joao Pedro secured a 1-1 draw for the hosts from the spot after being felled by an unintentional headbutt from William Saliba with the visitors leading through 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri’s strike.
“(It’s) a decision that is very, very disappointing,” said Arteta, who described the ruling as “bizarre” during an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I’ve never seen a decision like this in my career. I asked the boys if they have, and nobody has seen it before.”
Angrier Ange
Beleaguered Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou was left fuming as visitors Newcastle came from behind to secure a 2-1 win over his depleted squad.
Anthony Gordon cancelled out Dominic Solanke’s fourth-minute opener, but only after Lucas Bergvall’s attempted pass had come back off Joelinton’s arm, before Alexander Isak’s 12th goal in as many league games secured the Magpies a sixth successive victory in all competitions.
Postecoglou said: “I’m just really, really angry. Angriest I think I have ever been in my career.”
He added: “I know what everyone wants me to say, but all I’ll say is that on any other day, on a fair and even playing ground, we would have won that game. Simple as that.”
Pep talk
Pep Guardiola was not a happy man despite seeing his Manchester City side thrash West Ham 4-1 to record back-to-back league wins for the first time since October
Erling Haaland helped himself to a double after Vladimir Coufal’s own goal and Phil Foden added a fourth before Niclas Fullkrug’s consolation.
But Guardiola said: “I’m very pleased for the result, but you cannot ask me if the old City is back. If you saw the game, we are not. You saw many times during the years what we have done with the opponents.”
Sorry Saints
Southampton boss Ivan Juric apologised to supporters after his rock-bottom side crashed to a 5-0 defeat at home to Brentford which left them staring relegation firmly in the face.
Bryan Mbeumo scored twice while Kevin Schade, Keane Lewis-Potter and Yoane Wissa also netted to secure the visitors a first away league win of the campaign.
Juric, who has lost all three of his games in charge, said: “Today I was thinking about one step forward and we took three steps back. It was a really bad performance.
“We cannot lose 5-0 at home. I feel responsible, sorry. The game it was awful. This day cannot happen anymore.”
What’s on today?
Fourteenth-placed Manchester United head for Premier League leaders Liverpool trailing their north-west rivals by a staggering 23 points.
Should Ruben Amorim’s side lose a fifth game in a row, Liverpool will move eight points clear at the top of the table as they look to equal United’s record of 20 English league titles.
Elsewhere, Fulham entertain Ipswich, Championship promotion contenders Sunderland welcome Portsmouth to the Stadium of Light and Celtic look to bounce back from their Old Firm humbling when they host St Mirren in one of six Scottish Premiership games.
