Forest hold Arsenal to goalless draw as Arteta disputes denied penalty

Nottingham Forest held Premier League leaders Arsenal to a goalless draw while Mikel Arteta insisted his side should have been awarded a penalty for an alleged handball by Ola Aina about 10 minutes from time. Arteta was told that the video assistant referee had adjudged there should be no penalty as the ball ricocheted off Aina’s shoulder on to his arm.

“They are right that it hits the shoulder,” the Arsenal manager said, “[but] then he takes the ball with a hand. So their explanation is not right. The order is OK but the timing and the intention of the player is very clear. So in my opinion, it’s a very clear penalty.” This was only the third time Arsenal have failed to score in two successive league games since 2022/23 and, on each occasion, Forest have been the second opponents.

Forest hung on gamely in a performance their manager Sean Dyche praised, with the game summed up in the 82nd minute when two Forest players closed down substitute Gabriel Jesus. Dyche compared Arsenal’s penalty claim with Forest’s own appeal in the match: “It hits our player on the arm and you’re like, ‘Where does this live?’ We’ve got to be careful with all this.

I thought we had a really good shout. Callum’s gone in, he’s in mid-flow. He’s going into the box [so] to decide the moment of contact is a tight call. If that was on them, I’d be buzzing to get that one.

Key Topics

Sports, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Mikel Arteta, Sean Dyche, Ola Aina