Martin O’Neill has defended Mikel Arteta over his post-match comments on the officiating of Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle United.
In the aftermath of Arsenal’s weekend defeat to Newcastle United, it’s fair to say Mikel Arteta wasn’t best pleased with the manner of the result.
Arsenal had two hugely contentious moments go against them, with Bruno Guimaraes going unpunished after hitting Jorginho in the head off the ball, and Newcastle’s goal passing three VAR checks to stand.
The ball may have been out of play before the goal, Joelinton appeared to foul Gabriel Magalhaes, and Anthony Gordon may have been offside.
Yet the goal stood anyway, leading to Arteta telling the media: “How the hell this goal stands up. I feel embarrassed. It is an absolute disgrace that this goal is allowed.”
Some have criticised Arteta for going too far, but former Premier League manager Martin O’Neill says he stands with the Gunners boss.
“I’m totally with him,” O’Neill said. “He’s being interviewed just immediately after the game, he has seen the incident back, it’s taken four-and-a-half minutes to finally make a decision.
“There’s three possibilities of that not being a goal, and any one of them you could argue.
“The middle one, [Joelinton] has definitely got his arms on him (Gabriel). No question about it. Absolutely no question, and therefore it shouldn’t have gone any further.
“There’s a potential offside as well, and actually the ball looks over the line (for a goal kick). I know we can’t confirm that because they don’t have the wherewithal to do it.”
When asked whether Arteta would have had the same complaints if Arsenal had won the game, O’Neill insisted that while the tone may have been different, the point would have remained valid.
“The tone of his argument might be different if you’ve won the game,” O’Neill responded. “Of course, you’ll be less angry, you’ll be less belligerent, but you still might want to make the point.
“But overall, he’s been interviewed a couple of minutes afterwards, I’ve been in these situations before, where you’ve looked at this here, that should never have been a goal, should never have been a goal.
“Therefore, in this particular instance, I’m totally with him.”