Arsenal drew to Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, extending the gap to Liverpool to 15 points.
Arsenal dropped points for the third Premier League game in a row on Sunday as they drew 1-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils took the lead via a Bruno Fernandes free kick, during which, the Arsenal wall were further back than 10 yards, allowing the United captain that extra bit of space.
Arsenal then did manage to equalise through Declan Rice, but they were saved by David Raya who made two world-class saves to keep the game at 1-1. After the match, many Arsenal fans were saying that they should have had a penalty during the game, but referee Anthony Taylor wasn’t interested.
Anthony Taylor “got this one right,” says ex-PGMOL Referee
During the game, the ball was seen to strike the arm of Man United defender Ayden Heaven, however Taylor didn’t give the penalty and VAR quickly agreed with the referee.
Replays were shown during the game, which led many Gunners fans to take to social media and say that they should have been handed a penalty which could’ve helped Mikel Arteta’s side to three points. However, it wasn’t ruled a handball due to the fact that Heaven headed the ball down onto his arm which was in a natural position. Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett said that Taylor made the right decision and that he was “top class” during the game.
He told Football Insider: “Anthony Taylor delivered a top-class performance in the Man United v Arsenal game. He was correct in law to turn down Arsenal appeals for a penalty kick.
“The ball hit the head of the defender and bounced onto the arm. It wasn’t deliberate, and of course, the body shape was natural. I know this will probably upset a number of Arsenal fans, but Anthony Taylor got this one right.”
Arsenal dropped points, meaning that they are now 15 points behind league leaders Liverpool, who beat Southampton 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. Arteta’s attention will likely turn to the Champions League instead.
Arsenal backed to lose in Champions League quarter-final
The Gunners are 7-1 up in the round of 16 tie in the Champions League against Dutch side PSV, after a superb performance last week in Eindhoven.
They welcome the Dutch side to the Emirates on Wednesday night, in a game where Arteta will likely rotate his squad amid their comfortable six-goal lead. They are set to face either Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid in the quarter-final, with the tie between the two currently set at 2-1 to Real. However, according to the bookmakers, the Gunners aren’t one of the favourites to win the competition.
According to Oddschecker, Arsenal are the fifth favourites to win the Champions League, behind Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, and Barcelona. Suppose Real manages to come through their tie against their Madrid rivals. In that case, Arsenal will have arguably the toughest quarter-final, against Carlo Ancelotti’s side, who have got through the quarter-finals for the past four years. Not only is the La Liga side strong in the last eight, but in the past four years, they have won the competition twice.
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