In the 22nd round of the Premier League, Arsenal faced Nottingham Forest in the context that the runner-up Man City had lost to Man United 0-2 at Old Trafford before that.
However, the "Gunners" unexpectedly drew 0-0 with Nottingham, thereby missing the opportunity to increase the gap with The Citizens to 9 points.
After the match, coach Mikel Arteta clearly expressed his dissatisfaction with the referee's decision, when defender Ola Aina let the ball touch his hand in the Forest penalty area but Arsenal was not awarded a penalty.
According to coach Arteta, explaining that the ball touched his shoulder and then touched his hand is inaccurate. Look at the moment and the player's very blatant intention to catch the ball. He said that this was a clear penalty.
However, former player Steven Gerrard has a more cautious view. He believes that Arteta needs to look at the core issue instead of focusing too much on a controversial situation.
He commented: "I think there is a noteworthy situation, but I don't think it is as clear as Mikel Arteta said. Especially from the referee's direct perspective, I don't see it as a too blatant decision.
Gerrard warned Arsenal not to cling to such reasons: "You need to be careful, don't cling too much to weak reasons, because that's not why they didn't get the maximum points today.
The reason is that Arsenal wasted too many opportunities in the first half and the opponent's goalkeeper also had a too classy save.
According to Gerrard, Arsenal is still the team that plays better. “They control most of the match, creating enough opportunities to win. The only problem is the lack of killer instinct”.
