Mikel Arteta says Arsenal '100%' should've had penalty in Inter defeat

Mikel Arteta said Arsenal should've "100%" earned a penalty during their 1-0 defeat at Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

The Gunners have work to do in the league phase yet after their Matchday 4 loss in Milan. Arsenal huffed and puffed for much of Wednesday's bout, but they were unable to break the Nerazzurri's resistance and Hakan Calhanoglu's penalty separated the two sides.

Mikel Merino was harshly punished for handball at the end of the first half despite the Spaniard's arm being ever so close to Mehdi Taremi after the Iranian forward flicked on Benjamin Pavard's free-kick. Merino was earlier involved in an incident at the other end of the pitch which Arteta believed warranted a spot-kick.

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal should've had penalty in Inter defeat

Speaking to TNT Sports post-match, Arteta spoke out on the key decisions made by Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs, believing his team were hard done by in Milan: “I feel like we were very harshly done tonight — in the sense that is obvious," the Spaniard begun.

"One of them, both . Especially if you’re going to give that one , the other one has to be 100% a penalty.

"He punches him in the head!" the boss candidly surmised when discussing Arsenal's potential penalty incident.

Kovacs adjudged Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer to have gotten a touch of the ball when duelling Merino in the air, and the video assistant referee seemingly agreed with the Romanian's on-field assessment despite replays suggesting the Swiss international got very little of the ball and plenty of Merino's head. Fine margins.

Especially given the penalty decision that went against Arsenal, Arteta certainly does have a right to feel aggrieved. After their early blitz, Inter failed to test David Raya and the Gunners were camped in the Nerazzurri half for the majority of the second half as they searched for an equaliser. The hosts were content with shutting up shop early, but their box defending was excellent and they mitigated Arsenal's relentless set-piece and crossing threat for the duration.

The Gunners racked up 13 corners and attempted 46 crosses on Wednesday night, but they failed to find a way past Inter's stubborn resistance which led to a mightily frustrating result.

Arsenal have now failed to win three of their last four games and have suffered back-to-back defeats ahead of Sunday's London derby at Stamford Bridge. While this was not a bad performance in isolation, it heaps more pressure on the visit to Chelsea.

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