Mikel Arteta has affirmed that the VAR mistake in Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Brentford last weekend is "not acceptable" and the Gunners boss has accused official Lee Mason of "not understanding" his job.
The Premier League leaders were on course to claim a slender victory over the Bees and extend their lead at the summit after Leandro Trossard broke the deadlock with a close-range finish on the 66-minute mark.
However, Arsenal were denied all three points in controversial circumstances as VAR official Mason forgot to draw on the correct lines that would have shown Brentford's Christian Norgaard in an offside position before setting up Ivan Toney for a 74th-minute equaliser.
Mason has subsequently been dropped from his VAR duties for this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures, receiving this punishment for the second time this season after incorrectly disallowing a Newcastle United goal in a goalless draw with Crystal Palace in September.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb is understood to have personally apologised to Arsenal for the incident, but Arteta has acknowledged that he was left with "huge anger and disappointment" by the decision.
Speaking about the Brentford equaliser at a press conference on Tuesday, as quoted by Sky Sports News, Arteta said: "We ended the [Brentford] game, after analysing it with the evidence and images, with a huge anger and disappointment.
"Because that wasn't a human error. That was a big, big, big not conceiving and understanding your job. That's not acceptable, I'm sorry. And that cost Arsenal two points and that's not going to be restored.
"So we are going have to find those two points somewhere else in the league. But at the same time, we appreciate the apology and the explanations which were really open to be fair.
"We have got a lot of sympathy from a lot of colleagues and in the industry and in football. They are [saying] we cannot play with integrity in the way that we do. And that's it. We have to move on.
"That has certainly made the players, the staff, the fans even stronger with a desire to pass this herald that they put on us. We move on with it."
Asked if he was satisfied with the PGMOL's apology, Arteta jokingly replied: "I will be satisfied if they give me the two points back, which is not going to be the case!
"They were serious, open genuine and honest apologies which is really good. But doesn't take away from the fact that we have two less points that we should have in the table.
"Everybody makes errors and mistakes and we are part of that, me the first one in our job. But that was something else. I wasn't having it, the club wasn't having it. And I think it's clear, the consequences of what happened."
Despite expressing his frustrations at Mason's mistake, Arteta has suggested that the recent VAR blunders in the Premier League could in fact help improve the use of the technology going forward.
"When I see the reaction, for example that [refereeing chief] Howard Webb had and the PGMOL and the Premier League had, and how genuine it was, that anger [shows] they want to do the best they can and they know the standards and everything that is at stake," said the Spaniard.
"I think, in the end, it will help. Hopefully we can use that to make the game better and have more integrity, have better professionals and pay attention to details that matter because at the end of the day it has a significant output on results."
Arsenal are now focused fully on Wednesday's title showdown with Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium, and know that a defeat against the reigning champions will see them slip to second place on goal difference. body check tags ::
