Mikel Arteta compared to Sir Alex Ferguson after Arsenal take drastic referee action

Arsenal secured their fourth win from as many Premier League games against Sunderland but Mikel Arteta was left furious with a refereeing decision after the game

Jamie Carragher has branded Mikel Arteta 'the Sir Alex Ferguson' of the modern Premier League era after the Arsenal boss described the penalty given against his side as 'not acceptable'. The Gunners might have maintained their perfect start to the season with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Sunderland on Saturday night, but the Spaniard was left furious by the penalty decision that went against his team.

A dramatic second-half saw referee John Brooks point to the spot when Dan Ballard was brought down by Ezri Konsa, and David Raya parried Enzo Le Fee’s subsequent effort onto the left post. But that didn’t stop Arteta from fuming about the decision in his post-match press conference.

Former United boss Ferguson would always make his feelings known on decisions that went against his side during his time in charge at Old Trafford, and Carragher, speaking on Monday Night Football, believes Arteta came across in the same way as the Scot once did. He said: “This was Mikel Arteta becoming the Alex Ferguson of the Premier League right now.

“He’s the 'Don' at the moment and the Premier League champion. There are a lot of new managers about, he’s been in his role for six or seven years and he feels he is in a position of power to say it wasn’t a penalty and I don’t think it was a penalty.

“But it will be interesting to see how long it takes for another referee to give a penalty against Arsenal in a similar situation.

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“But I thought it was very interesting in the press conference, one of the journalists made a point about no matter what question you asked him he kept going back to the penalty.

“He was determined to get the narrative out that this won’t happen again to his club, but listen that is management. We have seen it with Alex Ferguson, with Jose Mourinho.”

Agreeing with Carragher, former Luton Town and Wolves boss Rob Edwards said: “I think Jamie is right, he is putting himself in a position where he is looking after his team and football club and people will listen to a Premier League winning manager. They will listen as he is a powerful voice there.”

On the penalty decision, Edwards said: “We don’t want to see the crappling or the pulling for long periods, but I don’t think it is (a penalty), Dave (Jones), I’m sorry.

“You can see the grab from the angle we are going to get in a second but, I think Dan Ballard knows what he is doing and he pulls Konsa with him. I don’t think it is a penalty.”

Mirror Football reported on Monday that Arsenal have made contact with Howard Webb, Pro Ref’s chief refereeing officer, as they want an explanation about why the decision was given by Brooks. And when asked for his thoughts on the decision on Saturday night, Arteta fumed: “The first question and we have to discuss this.

"This is not acceptable at this level because it was a beautiful game of football with two teams, with an atmosphere in the stadium (that) was unbelievable. Sunderland they are so organised, so good in so many phases, they have great players and they create a lot of issues.

“We had to cope with all of that because it was a lot and a really difficult win after Chelsea and Napoli. On top of that we have to go through what we’ve done today that, in my opinion, is not acceptable.

“I watched it 20 times and I cannot find a way to understand how they’d think to give a penalty in that situation or the way the VAR has to intervene. I don’t know what to think really. I’m sad we have to discuss before the game something at this level that has the gravity of that.

“That changes the course of the season and it can cost you the Champions League. At this level, with all the work we put in, this cannot happen.”