AN EXPLANATION has been given as to why Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes did not get a penalty despite being tripped in the box by Everton’s Neal Maupay.
The Gunners were defeated 1-0 by the Toffees on Saturday in what looked to be a bitter blow to their title hopes.
However, they received a huge favour from North London rivals Tottenham as Harry Kane’s record-breaking goal was enough to beat Manchester City 24 hours later.
That kept them five points clear at the top of the Premier League table - but some Gooners believe they should have had the opportunity to at least earn a draw ay Goodison.
Just moments after James Tarkowski had headed Everton ahead, Arsenal were claiming a penalty.
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Gabriel appeared to have been tripped by Blues ace Maupay, which sent the Brazilian clattering into Idrissa Gueye.
The referee awarded Everton a free-kick, leading to even more protests from the visitors.
VAR was called upon to check the incident, but they ultimately decided against awarding Arsenal a spot-kick.
And former Prem ref Peter Walton would later explain the reason behind the decision on BT Sport.
He said: “Well actually the initiation of contact was from the Arsenal player so I don’t think this will be given as a penalty kick, certainly there was enough contact there, but not a penalty kick.”
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He seemed to have the view that Gabriel had initiated contact with Maupay - although Gooners certainly do not have the same view.
Following the game, Arteta insisted on praising his players rather than tearing into them, saying: “Today I love them much better than the week before or a month ago, it is easy to be next to someone when they are winning well.
“I am still so proud of all of these players, they deserve it. This is not going to be a rose pathway.
“This is going to be tricky and we will have to dig in and play much better than we did today.”
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