19 February 2023 , 11:45
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Mikel Arteta has been branded "deluded and disrespectful" by talkSPORT presenter Natalie Sawyer.
The Spaniard hit out at VAR Lee Mason after he failed to spot an offside in the build-up to the Brentford's equaliser at the Emirates Stadium last Saturday, during Arsenal's 1-1 draw against the Bees. Replays showed that the goal shouldn't have stood and the decision ended up costing Mason his job with the PGMOL.
Arteta was understandably far from happy with the decision. He claimed that the Gunners deserved two points back, as they continue their pursuit of a first Premier League title since 2004. He said: "We ended the game with huge anger and disappointment because that wasn’t a human error; that was someone not understanding their job and that’s not acceptable.
"And that cost Arsenal two points and that’s not going to be restored, so we’re going to have to find those two points in the league.
"We appreciate the apology, we appreciate the explanation and we got a lot of sympathy from colleagues in the industry, but I will only be satisfied if they give me the two points back, which is not going to be the case."
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Following those comments, Sawyer, a lifelong Brentford fan, took umbrage with the Spaniard and admitted on Saturday morning that it has "really riled" her. Brentford had more than just that one chance to score at the Emirates and should've scored earlier as Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo missed a couple of clear chances.
"This has been getting on my goat for a while – the fact Mikel Arteta has kept going on about 'give us our two points back', that has riled me a lot," said the talkSPORT Weekend Sports Breakfast host.
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta (Getty Images)"I think it’s deluded and very disrespectful from Arteta to assume, with 20 or so minutes to go, that you were going to win that game against Brentford. I know I’m going to say that, it’s my team, but that has really riled me.
"I think it’s totally wrong and disrespectful to a Brentford team that had more chances in the game, they had a greater expected goals [xG] rate. Why would you just assume that you would have won that game? I don’t understand it."
Arsenal were back in action after the Brentford stalemate when they took on Manchester City on Wednesday, and despite putting up a strong fight, they fell to a 3-1 defeat. But they returned to winning ways on Saturday with a gutsy 4-2 win at Aston Villa.