In the 20th round of the Premier League, both Tottenham and Arsenal faced controversial penalty decisions. The penalty awarded after Saliba collided with Joao Pedro has particularly incensed Arteta, who repeatedly criticized referee Anthony Taylor post-match, deeming the penalty decision "disappointing." So, should Saliba have been penalized for knocking down Joao Pedro? The controversial decision was also a rare one. In the 59th minute of the match, Joao Pedro lofted the ball and then headed it forward, colliding with Saliba afterward. Joao Pedro fell to the ground, prompting the referee to award a penalty immediately, much to the chagrin of the Arsenal players. However, the referee stood firm on his decision, with the video assistant referee (VAR) also confirming there was "sufficient contact" between the two players. Joao Pedro converted the penalty to level the score for Brighton. After the penalty was awarded, Alan Smith commented, "It's a head-on collision; this is an unusual penalty. You don't often see such situations, but he did make contact with the Brighton player." "The referee had a clear view, but it's very unusual. I don't remember a penalty being awarded in this way, but I don't want to argue. If it were contact with the feet, you wouldn't think twice about it." Indeed, this is where the controversy lies. In slow motion, after Joao Pedro lofted the ball, Saliba attempted to head it away and indeed made contact with the ball before colliding with Joao Pedro. Sky Sports journalist Breezy pointed out the issue, "If no penalty had been awarded, would VAR have…

1-1! Arsenal's Iron Defender Concedes Penalty, Suffers Upset Draw, Now 5 Points Behind Liverpool with Two Games in Hand - Is the Title Liverpool's to Lose?‌ On the early morning of January 5th, Beijing time, the 20th round of the Premier League continued, with Arsenal, who had won three consecutive league matches, visiting Brighton, who had not won in seven league games. In the 16th minute, the 17-year-old youngster Nwaneri broke the deadlock. In the 59th minute, Saliba conceded a penalty, and Joao Pedro personally took the shot to equalize the score. In the end, Arsenal suffered an upset draw, ending their three-match winning streak in the league and four-match winning streak in all competitions with a 1-1 draw against Brighton. Although the Gunners still maintained an unbeaten record of 13 matches in all competitions (9 wins and 4 draws), they are now five points behind Liverpool, who have played two fewer games, in the Premier League standings. ‌[Match Focus]‌ In this match, Martinelli and Odegaard were on standby on the bench, while Havertz did not even make the squad list. Arteta revealed in a pre-match interview that Odegaard and Havertz were both sick, and Martinelli also encountered some minor issues. In the 16th minute, after a wonderful combination with Merino, Nwaneri broke into the penalty area and calmly scored. Nwaneri created a team history for Arsenal, becoming the first player to score at least two goals before his 18th birthday, making history. In the 18th minute, Jorginho aimed at the incoming ball inside the penalty area and attempted an…