Arteta slams penalty calls in loss to Inter Milan, says “I don’t understand the decision”
Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty and an organised defensive display gave Inter a hard-fought victory over Arsenal, their first Champions League defeat of the season.
Post Arsenal’s valiant show at the Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, Gunners’ head coach Mikel Arteta was proud of the spirit, character, fight and leadership shown by his boys.
In their Tuesday’s Premier League tie, Arsenal came from behind to hold Chelsea 2-2. Notably, the Gunners were reduced to 10 men after David Luiz was shown a red card only in the 26th minute. To add the trouble for the guests, Jorginho converted from 12 yards to take Chelsea in the driving seat minutes later. But Arteta’s men didn’t lose confidence and fought back twice to level the match, even though they were less in numbers.
“I am (proud). The spirit they showed, the character, the fight and the leadership was there as well. You have to really stand up,” said Arteta as quoted by club’s official website.
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“When someone makes a mistake, it can happen in football, so someone has to take a red card for him. It can happen. What cannot happen is that afterwards we don’t stand up for him. Every single player did it with belief as well. I could sense it at half-time that they believed they could get back in the game,” he added.
The Gunners levelled things in the 63rd minute, courtesy Gabriel Martinelli before Cesar Azpillicueta again took the hosts again in the driving seat in the 84th minute. However, Hector Bellerin’s left-footed strike brought Arsenal back into the game with just three minutes left in the play.
“I wasn’t expecting Hector to score with his left foot obviously, but I’m very pleased,” said the coach.
Arsenal play their next match against Bournemouth in the 4th round of FA Cup on January 27.
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