- Arsenal were defeated 1-0 by Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday
- Fans are convinced Mikel Arteta should have been sent off in the second half
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Fans are convinced Mikel Arteta should have been sent off during Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan on Wednesday.
The Gunners boss, who saw his side suffer a second successive defeat at the San Siro after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle, was shown a yellow card midway through the second half for interfering with the ball while it was still in the game was.
In the 63rd minute, as Arsenal chased the match after Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty on the stroke of half-time, the ball bounced towards Arteta’s technical area as Bukayo Saka struck the ball against Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Despite initially appearing to go out of play, the spinning ball remained on the pitch, only for Arteta to bend down and stop it with his hand.
To make matters worse, his intervention prevented Matteo Darmian from regaining possession for the Italian giants, prompting protests from the full-back and his teammates.
Fans are convinced Mikel Arteta should have been sent off for handling the ball while it was still in play during Arsenal’s narrow 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan on Wednesday night
The referee and Arteta laughed about it when he was shown a yellow card after the interference
The Arsenal boss has made a habit of standing extremely close to the touchline during matches
Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs smiled as he waved his yellow card at Arteta and appeared to have a friendly word with the Spanish manager on the touchline.
Several fans were unhappy to see Arteta escape further punishment for disrupting play, claiming his actions at the San Siro warranted an expulsion.
One fan posted on X: ‘Our old friend discretion. “Se-off fouls include (but are not limited to): entering the field of play to: interfere with play, or assault an opponent or a match official.”
Another said: ‘This should have been a red card for Arteta. What is he doing?’
A Tottenham supporter also expressed his frustration, adding: ‘Let alone picking up the ball, how can Arteta be so close to the game and think it’s okay. He does it every PL game and distracts the players two or three times a game.’
West Bromwich Albion boss Carlos Corberan was sent off for committing a similar offense in the Championship earlier this year.
Just six minutes into the Baggies’ clash with Southampton, the Spaniard kicked the ball while it was still in play after Saints star Sekou Mara played a pass down the line towards his teammate Ryan Fraser.
Despite immediately apologizing – even though the ball turned out of play – Corberan was given his marching orders by referee Sam Allison.
Fans quickly took to social media to point out that Arteta was lucky to only receive a booking
West Brom manager Carlos Corberan was sent off for a similar offense earlier this year
While Arteta escaped the same punishment, Arsenal suffered a disappointing defeat that evening and dropped to 12th out of 36 in the Champions League.
Referee Kovacs awarded Inter a penalty in injury time at the end of the first half, after Mikel Merino accidentally handled the ball in the area, giving spot kick specialist Calhanoglu a golden opportunity from the spot.
The midfielder made no mistake and gave Inter a crucial lead to defend, which they managed to do despite Arsenal’s attacking onslaught in the second half.
Gabriel Magalhaes’ effort was cleared off the line by Denzel Dumfries before Yann Sommer expertly denied Kai Havertz’s curling effort from distance to help his side retain all three points and rocket them up to fifth in the Champions League .