Manchester United legend Paul Scholes was not impressed with the actions of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta in the lead-up to the Gunners being awarded a penalty yesterday afternoon.
Eddie Nketiah had already been flagged for offside but Arteta appealed for a foul on Bukayo Saka in the build-up to the disallowed goal, which was consequently checked by VAR. Scholes was scathing about Arteta’s attempts to influence officials:
“At the time, I thought it was offside. I didn’t really think of the foul, to be honest. That brings into question whether it’s a clear and obvious error, which is the only reason it should go to the VAR. It’s a coming together, of course, it is.”
“I think Arteta is a disgrace there. He shouldn’t be allowed to do that. If you see it again, he actually goes to the crowd to try and influence the referee a little. All the players around them as well. That shouldn’t be allowed. But it’s a little bit clumsy from Telles.”
It was a soft decision, to say the least and, when you consider United could have had two more penalties of their own (in addition to the one they got), you do feel that they were on the wrong end of a lot of key decisions at the Emirates.
Having said that, though, United performed very poorly in the first half, and they deserved to be behind. While they improved after the interval, you can’t start a game that badly and expect to get any points.
