Arteta praises Arsenal performance in defeat and says he ‘doesn’t understand’ penalty call | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta says he “doesn’t understand” the decision to award Inter Milan a penalty in his Arsenal side’s 1-0 Champions League defeat.

The Gunners were beaten 1-0 at the San Siro after Mikel Merino was penalised for a handball in the box and Hakan Calhanoglu converted from the spot.

But Arteta hit out at the decision and believes his side should have had a penalty of their own.

He said: “I don’t understand. There is no danger at all. You cannot react because the ball is very close. But OK. They decide that is a penalty.

“But if that is a penalty then the one on Mikel Merino where he punches him in the head has to be a penalty 1000%. These are the margins in this game and it’s very difficult to accept.”

Arteta, however, was pleased with his team’s performance and backed them to beat Chelsea if they play in the same way on Sunday.

“If we play the way we played we have a good chance to win against Chelsea,” he said.

“I told them I’m proud of them. I haven’t seen them play in Europe in the manner they have today And we are very disappointed because we didn’t get what we wanted out of the game that’s for sure.

“The concern is the result and that in both boxes we didn’t do what we have to do. And then we didn’t, someone else didn’t. For sure this is the way I want to see my team. All the big games we have played in Europe this is by far the best one that we played in the last few years.”