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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Nizaar Kinsella

Mikel Arteta hits out at VAR as Arsenal boss hails comeback against Chelsea

Mikel Arteta says it was "mechanically impossible" for William Saliba to avoid a handball after he gave away a penalty during Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Chelsea.

The VAR Jarred Gillett instructed referee Chris Kavanagh to check the monitor and give a penalty despite the ball flicking off Mykhailo Mudryk's head before hitting the outstretched arm.

Cole Palmer cooly dispatched his penalty before Mudryk extended Chelsea's lead only for Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard to pull goals back to share the spoils.

When asked about the penalty decision, Arteta said: "The law is clear as well in where the ball has to be in relation to the action.

"It’s very close and it’s impossible to jump without lifting your hands. Mechanically, it’s impossible."

The Arsenal boss also joked he was "not happy with the yellow no" after his protests at the decision when asked to comment further.

He was broadly happy with the character of his team, who fought back in difficult circumstances. "The way the team reacted to the second goal is phenomenal from the players on the pitch and the players on the bench thinking how the hell am I going to change this game. I loved that.

"I really liked as well going into the dressing room and it’s really quiet, after drawing 2-2 with Chelsea and coming back from 2-0 down, because I know that they wanted more.

"We had that belief. Even with the goal we conceded, we continued to be like this. I loved that about the team and I’m going to demand that from them every single day.

"This is who we are and the only way to still create a lot of issues with the opponent even when you’re not at your best. That’s the positive."

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