Arsenal boss Arteta My duty to criticise officiating

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he stands by his comments on Anthony Gordon’s controversial goal in his side’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle and insists it was his ” duty” to defend his club and its players.

Arteta branded the decision to award Gordon’s 64th-minute goal on Saturday after three separate VAR checks as “shameful” and “embarrassing” for the Premier League.

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Speaking ahead of his side’s Champions League match against Sevilla, Arteta remained defiant.

“It’s my duty to stand in front of you, the cameras, and give a very clear and honest assessment of what’s happening in the game,” he said during Tuesday’s press conference. “That’s what I did. I thought very openly about how I thought the team was playing and how the game was conditioned by the decisions that were being made.

“It’s my duty to defend my players, to support my players, to defend my club, to support my club, in the best way possible. That’s what I’m going to do time and time again.”

Arsenal said in a statement on Sunday that they “wholeheartedly support” Arteta after he criticized Stuart Attwell’s refereeing and urged the refereeing body (PGMOL) to examine refereeing standards.

“I think we really have to defend our people, our values ​​and who we are,” Arteta said. “And when the club has done it, it has done it at very specific times with the right reasons, and that shows the unity and understanding that exists within the club, to position ourselves in a really clear and honest way .It’s our duty as a club.”

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Arteta: It’s my duty to defend my club

Michel Arteta says he stands by his comments following Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle this weekend.

Arteta did not explain why Gordon’s goal should have been ruled out, but reiterated that “refereeing errors are part of the game”.

“I maintain that mistakes are part of football in other ways, and we are here to improve the game constructively in any way possible,” he said. “In the club, individually in my duty as a manager, in managers’ meetings, to get a better game. “That’s the only thing we seek to achieve, everyone. “That’s it.”

Arteta is confident his side can bounce back from their first league defeat of the season and secure qualification for the Champions League last 16 when they host Sevilla in Group B on Wednesday.

The Gunners will be without injured Gabriel Jesus, while Martin Odegaard is doubtful.

“As soon as you have a chance in football to put this to bed, do it,” Arteta said of his chances of reaching the Champions League last 16 with two matches remaining. “We need to build on a lot of things that we did well against Newcastle, improve some things, especially in the final third, to be more threatening, but for the rest, the way the team played, the way we competed , it was extraordinary.”