In a 1-1 draw away at Southampton, Gabriel Jesus claims that the referee explained to him why he wasn’t given a penalty for a challenge on him.
However, when it came to the decisions made by the referee, Arsenal would have felt wronged, particularly in a particular challenge where Jesus was restrained by Duje Caleta-Car. Even though the forward succeeded in getting his shot on goal off, there were still complaints that he had been unfairly stopped.
The foul was also similar to one committed by Scott McTominay, who gave Chelsea a penalty in Saturday’s match between Manchester United and Chelsea for a similar infraction. Jesus told the official Arsenal website that he spoke with one of the referees immediately following the game. “I spoke with him straight after and he said ‘if you go down before maybe I can give a penalty,’
“But I think I was fair, I tried to hold and keep standing and tried to finish the action but in the end he grabbed me and it was impossible, so I go down normally. But that is not the reason why we don’t win the game and we had a lot of chances.”
The focus will shift to how much more the team can do to win its upcoming matches before the World Cup break, despite frustrations over the officials’ decisions.