Yahoo Sports Brighton boss disagrees with Arteta over penalty decision against Arsenal
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler was at odds with Mikel Arteta after his side were awarded a penalty against Arsenal on Saturday evening.
Referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot following a seemingly accidental clash of heads between Joao Pedro and William Saliba, which was subsequently confirmed by the VAR.
The Colombian forward, who was handed the captain’s armband for the game, converted from twelve yards out on the hour mark to cancel out Ethan Nwaneri’s first-half opener and claim a point for the Seagulls at the Amex Stadium.
Arteta criticised the penalty call afterwards, saying he had “never seen that in my life” and was “very disappointed”.
Brighton boss disagrees with Arteta over penalty decision
Hurzeler, however, felt that it was a “clear penalty”, arguing that Saliba arrived late and committed a foul in the box.
“We think we deserved more,” the German told BBC Match of the Day. “We had the better chances and weren’t able to score the second goal. In the end we have to take the positives.
“It was a clear penalty. It is head to head but if it is another piece of the body everybody would say it was a penalty. Joao Pedro places the ball with his head and Saliba comes too late, therefore it was a clear one.”
Pedro’s spot kick takes him to five goals for Brighton in the Premier League this season, while he has also and provided five assists for his teammates.
“Joao is a key player and also one of our leaders,” Hurzeler said. “Today he was our captain. Every player has bad phases in his development and we are there to help him and give him the right support and advice and I’m sure he’ll come back really strong.”
Brighton have not won any of their last nine league games, but are unbeaten in four and the draw with Arsenal returned them to eighth in the table.
“It is a big challenge for us to play consistently with this intentisity,” said Hurzeler. “We are only able to play in phases of the game. We have to improve and get fitter.
“We have to be mentally ready to play intense for 90 minutes. If we are not able to do it it will be difficult to win games.”
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