Mikel Arteta refused to be drawn into a red card controversy after Ryan Christie’s foul on Bukayo Saka.
The Bournemouth man launched a reckless challenge on the England international winger, but the referee did not send him off, with many Arsenal fans and other observers believing Christie was fortunate not to receive his marching orders.
Arteta was asked after his side’s 3-0 win what he made of the decision, but he would not criticise the referee.
“The honest answer is I haven’t seen any of the incidents because I knew you were going to ask me. So I did it on purpose,” he said.
“The analyst said, do you want to watch it? And I said, ‘no’, because then I’m going to tell the truth.
“I haven’t seen them, so I cannot comment. I can’t have an impression. The one on David [Raya], the foul, I cannot see because it’s too far.
“On the one on Bukayo, is that on purpose or not? I don’t know. So difficult for me to judge.”
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