Mikel Arteta hit out at the decision to award Sunderland a penalty before Arsenal scored twice to maintain an unbeaten start to the defence of their Premier League crown.
Bruno Guimaraes struck a ferocious shot in off the bar and Bukayo Saka scored a spot kick deep in added time to earn the Gunners a fourth straight win at a raucous Stadium of Light.
Yet Arteta was still furious with the decision by referee John Brooks to award the hosts a penalty early in the second half after Ezri Konsa was judged to have fouled Dan Ballard in the box.
Instead the Basque manager said Ballard, a former Arsenal defender, had performed a “judo roll” while insisting it should never be given as a foul.
Goalkeeper David Raya made a brilliant save to deny Enzo Le Fee’s attempt from 12 yards, with Guimaraes scoring two minutes later.
However that did not stop Arteta from discussing his frustrations at full-time. “It’s a huge win, but it could have been something very different,” he told TNT Sports.
Pushed on whether he meant the penalty decision, which was awarded swiftly by referee Brooks and checked by VAR, Arteta added: “I’m so upset. It’s unacceptable at this level. Unacceptable. This can change the course of a season, the championship.
“It’s unacceptable. I’ve seen it 10 times to make sure, because I watched it live and I said, ‘It’s not possible at this level it’s going to be a penalty.’ Because it’s a judo roll, that’s what it is. It cannot happen
“I’ve been in football for almost 28 years, it’s not a penalty in any case, in any game, in any context, in any league.”
Arteta was earlier shown a yellow card for stepping outside of his technical area.
Asked about the save, Raya, who also denied Brian Brobbey late on, said: “I think that save made the players and the team to have that faith to keep going and win the game, which we did, and two minutes later we scored the goal, a wonderful goal from Bruno.
“But even if we conceded that goal, I think we had that faith to get back to the game. So obviously important to keep the clean sheet because that helped us to win games and important to save the penalty as well.”
The Gunners are next in action away to Ipswich Town in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening before visiting Brighton on Saturday.
