Former Premier League official Dermot Gallagher has voiced his opinion that Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker was lucky to escape conceding a penalty against Swansea City on Saturday in this incident.
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With the game finely balanced at 0-0 at the time, the German international’s apparent handball wasn’t acted upon by referee Kevin Friend and the Gunners went on to win the encounter 3-0 thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Joel Campbell.
There was also controversy surrounding Koscielny’s goal with the hosts believing that the Frenchman had fouled Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski prior to tapping home, but again the decision didn’t go in their favour.
Nevertheless, Swans boss Garry Monk refused to blame the officials, but was left frustrated with the manner in which his side suffered the defeat.
“It’s disappointing and we feel hard done by because there were a lot of positives,” he said, according to Wales Online. “In the first-half especially we were the better team, playing good football and creating good chances.”
Following on from the win, Arsene Wenger’s side kept pace with title rivals Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, with both sides level on 25 points after 11 games.
Meanwhile, Swansea fell to 13th place having collected 13 points so far this season, and that is enough to keep them just six points above the relegation zone.
Although Monk will have felt aggrieved by the incident, particularly now that Gallagher has insisted that it should have been a penalty, there will be little for the 36-year-old to do to change it and so he will undoubtedly focus on their upcoming game against Norwich City on Saturday afternoon.
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