Mikel Arteta insists he’s ‘NEVER seen’ anything like Joao Pedro’s controversial penalty – with the Arsenal boss slamming the ‘disappointing’ decision which saw points shared with Brighton

Mikel Arteta described Joao Pedro’s equalising penalty as a decision he has ‘never’ seen in his career as he bemoaned a ‘disappointing’ decision which has dented Arsenal’s title hopes.

Near the hour mark, Pedro had flicked the ball up and William Saliba, in attempting to head the ball, made contact with the Brazilian’s head.

The foul was checked and confirmed by the VAR, who deemed there was sufficient contact for a penalty, which Pedro scored for Brighton to cancel out 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri’s first-half strike.

The north London club, who have drawn three in their last six league matches, now trail leaders Liverpool by five points, who have two games in hand. The Reds face Manchester United this afternoon.

Arteta said: ‘It’s a decision that is very disappointing.

‘I have never seen a decision like this in my career. I asked the boys if they have and nobody has seen it before. When you look at the incident, the distance, the player, Joao touching the ball, then Saliba touching the ball, you can see contact there. 

William Saliba  was deemed to have fouled Pedro as he accidentally headbutted the forward

Arsenal’s title hopes have been dented following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with the Seagulls 

‘I checked (with the officials). After three seconds they said they had already checked. It seems quick.’

Pedro has now netted home and away against Arsenal this season.

On whether the Gunners need a January signing, Arteta added: ‘We cannot make a decision based on one performance for one day with a lot of circumstances, not only the players that we lost but the fact that we had to take Ethan out. Hopefully on Tuesday we will be in a better position.’

Arteta was also dealt a further blow with an injury to Nwaneri, who suffered ‘muscular issues’.

The 17-year-old goal scorer, who made his second consecutive league start for Arsenal, had to be hooked at half-time.

Nwaneri was playing in the right wing spot which has been a tricky area of late for Arteta after Bukayo Saka’s hamstring injury.

Arteta now has to rethink his plan once again.

He said: ‘It’s really bad news because I think we’ve lost him (Nwaneri), we had to take him off at half-time with some muscular issues.’