Alan Shearer claimed Ian Wright was “trying to wind him up” after the Arsenal legend’s insistence that the Gunners were due a penalty in their fiery draw with Newcastle.
The Premier League leaders were held to a 0-0 stalemate at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening after Eddie Howe's Magpies managed to keep their hosts at arm’s length. Whilst neither side managed to get on the scoresheet, there were still plenty of major talking points in north London.
Mikel Arteta claimed that the Gunners were denied two penalties during the game, firstly as Dan Burn appeared to haul Arsenal defender Gabriel over before an apparent handball from Jacob Murphy in the closing stages.
Following the clash, Wright struggled to hide his disdain whilst having a joke with fellow pundit Shearer. Speaking with Premier League Productions, the ex-Arsenal striker laughed: “I think Dan Burn’s all over him [Gabriel] here. Look at Dan Burn, he’s grabbing and then he is pushing him down. I think they could have given that one. He’s impending him, look.”
Shearer responded: “I think the laughter says it all. That’s all we need to say on that. The laughter from Mr Wright says it all.”
Wright’s argument was not quite finished there, though, as he continued to claim that the Gunners should have been awarded a spot kick. He continued: “As much as I was joking earlier on about the Gabriel one, there was one maybe that he got a pull on – you look at the ball that’s going into an area where he is going to go and attack it.
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“He’s got a hold of his shirt there. He has pulled him. He’s impending him there.”
Whilst Wright’s pleas continued, Shearer also did not give his colleague any leeway and suggested that the former striker’s claims for a penalty were only for the purpose of winding him up. The ex-Newcastle man said: “If you are going to give that, then you are giving 10 penalties a game.
“It’s never a penalty. If that was given against Arsenal, then I would imagine what you would be saying. He’s just trying to wind me up.”
While Arsenal were distraught not have been awarded a penalty, the draw against Newcastle allowed them to move eight points clear at the top of the table. That gap could be reduced to five later this week, with Manchester City set to be in action on Thursday evening with a trip to Stamford Bridge to take on struggling Chelsea.
Arsenal’s next Premier League outing comes in the form of a North London Derby showdown with Tottenham in mid-January. Before that, they need to find a route past Oxford United in the third round of the FA Cup.
