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Mikel Arteta: Arsenal ‘very harshly done by’ referees in Champions League loss

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is very disappointed in the penalty given against his side during the Gunners’ 1-0 loss at Inter Milan in UEFA Champions League play on Wednesday.

[ MORE: Inter Milan 1-0 Arsenal recap, highlights ]

Arteta’s men controlled the game but went behind thanks to a penalty just before halftime, as Mikel Merino handled a shot from close range and his arm was adjudged to be outside the frame of his body despite the ball traveling a short distance to hit him.

The boss thought that was harsh on his men, especially since Yann Sommer’s punched clearance of a free kick later in the game saw the Inter keeper make contact with Merino’s head while attempting to parry the ball.

“The worst thing of the night for sure is the result because the dominance, the attitude, and the performance we showed against one of the best teams in Europe in this stadium I haven’t seen it in all the games that I watched,” Arteta said, via football.london. “The reality though is the result and we had many situations in front of goal that we could have resolved better enough to score at least two goals. ... Extremely frustrated as well because there are then two decisions that marked the course of the game.”

Mikel Arteta reaction video: Arsenal ‘very harshly done by’ penalty vs Inter Milan

“I am very proud of my players, the level of domination we had,” said Arteta, who watched Inter Milan pile up 53 clearances against his Gunners. “We were very harshly done by tonight.”

When asked how they were harshly done, he replied curtly.

“In the sense that is obvious. Both [penalties]. Especially if you are going to give a penalty in the other box, obviously that one has to be because he punches him in the head.”

“He cannot see — it’s not a shot. There’s just a deflection. There is no danger in the box. There is nothing you can do, the ball is very very close to your body, so I don’t know how you can get away from it. If he is going to give that one, then the other has to be 100% a penalty.”

“We should have scored a couple at least but the way the team played, that was us at least. Every decision in the box makes a difference. The way we played tonight, the team can go to Chelsea and win.”