Match of the Day Panel All in Agreement Over Brighton Penalty vs Arsenal

Gary Lineker and the rest of the Match of the Day panel were all left in agreement following Brighton’s controversial penalty against Arsenal on Saturday. For the second time this season, the Seagulls profited from a questionable decision to earn a point against the Gunners, having benefited from a Declan Rice red card in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign.

This time, it was William Saliba who fell foul of the referee after clashing heads with Joao Pedro whilst attempting to clear the ball. Mikel Arteta was left furious with the decision and now Lineker, Danny Murphy and Micah Richards have all had their say.

Premier League Explanation as Arsenal Concede Unique Penalty vs Brighton

The penalty proved to be a controversial decision.

MOTD Panel Dispute Penalty Award

The pundits were left shocked by the decision to award a penalty

Speaking following the highlights of the clash at the AMEX, Lineker led the discussion about the spot-kick by saying he agreed with Arteta that it wasn’t a penalty as Saliba had gotten a touch on the ball. Slow motion footage that emerged after the game showed Saliba getting a touch before colliding with Pedro, and Lineker claimed that should’ve seen the decision overturned.

This was followed up by Richards, who said: “I can understand why people think it’s a penalty. I don’t think it’s a penalty, because he heads the ball as well and you’ll see it clearly on the third angle here.

“As the ball comes in, you can clearly see that Saliba heads the ball, so I don’t think that is a penalty.”

Murphy then chimed with a similar sentiment, remarking: “I don’t think it’s a penalty, they both head the ball before they clash, they’re both genuinely going for it, it’s a coming together. The other thing is, why now? We’ve never seen it before.”

The feeling was shared by Lineker who went on to claim that in all his years of watching football, the incident was the first of its kind he had seen a player penalised for:

“Never ever have we seen penalties given for head clashes. I’ve watched football for far too long and I’ve never seen a penalty given for a clash of heads, it happens in every corner almost.”

The decision had a profound impact on the game and could have major implications on Arsenal’s title hopes. The Gunners now sit five points behind league leaders Liverpool having played two more games. Should the Reds walk away victorious against Manchester United on Sunday, this gap will grow to eight points, making Arteta’s task to usurp Arne Slot’s men almost impossible.