Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was furious with Nicolas Pepe after the forward was sent off for headbutting Ezgjan Alioski in their goalless draw with Leeds United.
Pepe was shown a straight red card after referee Anthony Taylor checked with the Video Assistant Referee who was able to easily ascertain that the Arsenal player had butted his forehead into the Leeds defender. It meant Arsenal had to play for 39 minutes with only 10 players.
“It is unacceptable, unacceptable. At this level you cannot do it,” a visibly irate Arteta said afterwards, indicating that he would keep their conversation private but that he had spoken to the player about the incident.
Pepe now faces a three-match ban and will miss games against Wolves, the north London derby with Tottenham and Burnley.
“Considering how early we got Pepe sent off we have to take it,” Arteta added. “I never like a draw but in the circumstances it’s a point. We take it and move on.”
Arsenal somehow left Elland Road with a point after Leeds failed to score one of their 25 shots at Bernd Leno’s goal, hitting the woodwork multiple times and seeing a number of efforts saved by Arsenal’s goalkeeper.
Defensively, it was impressive, but Arteta’s side have not scored a Premier League goal in open play for almost eight hours and it is a growing issue. They have scored nine goals in nine league games this season, their lowest tally after nine games in the top flight since 1987.
“It is a concern,” Arteta said. “You need goals to win matches. We need to create opportunities.”
‘We could have won the game’
Leeds manger Marco Bielsa was annoyed that his side were unable to win the match after such dominance.
“We are frustrated as we could have won the game,” he said. “We tried to create danger in different ways, through the wings, long distance and in a smaller sense through balls through the middle. In these three ways we were able to create danger, but not able to convert.”
Arsenal, to their credit, almost nicked a win with a break at the end, but Bukayo Saka’s effort was saved when he was one-on-one with Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier.
“We certainly created enough chances to win it,” Leeds midfielder Stuart Dallas said. “The red card changed the game and gave us a lot of possession.
“But if you can’t win you have to make sure you don’t lose it. They are dangerous on the counter and that is something we have worked on.”
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