Arteta fumes over Sunderland’s penalty decision in Arsenal’s win
By Joel Masibo, September 13, 2026Mikel Arteta has strongly criticised the decision to award Sunderland a penalty during Arsenal’s 2-0 Premier League victory at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, September 12, 2026, insisting the incident could have serious consequences in the title race.
Sunderland were given the opportunity to take the lead in the 54th minute after referee John Brooks ruled that Arsenal defender Ezri Konsa had committed a holding offence against Dan Ballard inside the area.
VAR reviewed the incident and upheld Brooks’ decision.
“The referee’s call of penalty to Sunderland for a holding offence by Konsa on Ballard was checked and confirmed by VAR,” said a statement from the Premier League Match Centre.
The VAR review concluded:
“REF: ‘He’s all over him at the near post facing the wrong way.’ VAR: ‘I’m happy that it’s a holding offence. The foul is confirmed. Confirming the on-field decision of penalty.'”
However, Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya came to his side’s rescue, producing an important save to deny Enzo Le Fee from the penalty spot.
The miss proved costly for Sunderland as Arsenal struck just 121 seconds later, with Bruno Guimaraes putting the visitors ahead.
Bukayo Saka later sealed the three points by converting a late penalty, giving Arsenal their fourth consecutive league victory.
Despite the comfortable scoreline, Arteta remained deeply unhappy with the decision that had threatened to change the course of the contest.
“The first question we have to discuss is this,” he said at the start of his press conference. “This is not acceptable at this level.
“It was a beautiful game of football with two teams, with an atmosphere in the stadium that was unbelievable.
“Sunderland are so well organised, they are so good in so many phases, they have great players and they create a lot of issues. We have to cope with all of that in a really difficult week.
“And on top of that, we have to go through what we have done today, that, in my opinion, is not acceptable.
“I watched it 20 times and I cannot find a way to understand how they think to give a penalty in that situation, or the way the VAR has to intervene.
“So I don’t know what to think.
“I’m sad that we have to discuss this after such a beautiful game, that at this level, has the gravity of that. Because that changes the course of the season and it can cost you the championship.
“At this level, with all the work we put in, this cannot happen.” Furious Arteta said.
Arteta also expressed his frustration during his post-match interview with TNT Sports, having earlier been booked for leaving his technical area.
The Arsenal manager described the incident leading to Sunderland’s penalty as a “judo roll” and maintained that the decision was wrong regardless of the circumstances.
“It’s not a penalty in any case, in any context, in any league,” he added.
Raya’s intervention ultimately ensured Arsenal avoided dropping points, while the result maintained their perfect run and strengthened their early-season position in the Premier League title race.
For Arteta, however, the controversy overshadowed much of Arsenal’s performance, with the manager warning that decisions of this nature can have a major impact over the course of a championship campaign.
Following the victory, the Gunners returned to the summit of the Premier League table with 12 points after making it four wins out out of four outings.