Arsenal head coach Unai Emery said he was frustrated with the officiating as his side fell to a 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United on Monday evening.
The Gunners thought they should have had a penalty after six minutes when John Egan pulled Sokratis back by his shirt as the hosts defended a corner, but referee Mike Dean was unmoved and VAR was not consulted.
And five minutes after Lys Mousset’s goal which turned out to be the winner, Bukayo Saka was booked for simulation as he went down under a challenge – again from Egan – inside the penalty area.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Emery wondered why the incident involving Sokratis was not sent to VAR.
“[The penalty] is a very clear one with Sokratis, it’s very clear,” the manager said. “I don’t know if the [Saka incident] was a penalty or not, no penalty? Perfect.
“I think a yellow card is very hard for that action but I accepted that but when we are working with VAR, the penalty against Sokratis – this is for review.
“This is the action to review because it’s clear. We need to accept it and continue.”
Emery also said that his side did not deserve to walk away from the game with nothing but admitted that his side must improve.
“We did not deserve to lose and we conceded a lot of corners in the first half and they scored in one action,” the Spaniard said. “Above all, we have to improve by not allowing balls like that.
“When we have our opportunities to attack, we created more chances than them but did not score today. We deserved more from the game but they have conceded the least goals in the Premier League and it was going to be difficult if they scored first.
“We tried in the second half, created three good chances to score.”
Arsenal turn their attentions to Europa League action on Thursday, with the Gunners looking to make it three wins from three in the group stages.
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