'I have had enough' - Arteta angered by VAR decision in Arsenal loss

After a 13th Premier League defeat of the season, Arteta slammed another VAR decision that went against Arsenal.

A VAR decision left Mikel Arteta fuming as it cost Arsenal a crucial penalty in Friday’s 1-0 Premier League defeat to Everton.

The incident occurred early into the second half when Richarlison fouled Dani Ceballos inside the box. The referee, Jonathan Moss, initially awarded a spot-kick. A VAR review, however, overturned the decision as Nicolas Pepe was ruled to be offside in the build-up.

What followed was Bernd Leno’s own goal in the 76th-minute to gift Everton the spoils of victory at the Emirates Stadium.

It ended a tense evening in north London, with the pre-match protests against the club’s owners overshadowing matters on the pitch itself.

“This has been building up. Enough is enough. Today I have had enough,” said Arteta on Sky Sports.

“We’ve had many of them that nobody explains. It affects a lot of people, our job and most importantly our football club.

“What they [the match officials] do is behind the telephone. That’s what I cannot understand.

“We were the better team but there are certain decisions that we can’t control. To disallow a penalty 15 seconds before – [we had] eight or nine touches [after Nicolas Pepe was offside] – I saw it 10 times and I don’t get it.

“It can be taken the way they want. Zero control. Somebody has to explain that.

“We were the better team. We lacked some clear-cut chances and the edge in the final third. They are very well organized, but we conceded the goal at the wrong moment and we had the penalty but it wasn’t given.”

Arsenal will now head to Spain on Thursday next week to face Villarreal in the first leg of a Europa League semi-final tie.