Emery Refuses To Blame Officials

Unai Emery was reluctant to criticise the officials after Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Tottenham in Saturday’s north London derby.

The Gunners went into the match at Wembley knowing a victory would move them to within a point of third-placed Spurs and they looked on course to achieve that feat when Aaron Ramsey gave them a first-half lead.

However, Spurs drew level in controversial fashion during the second half thanks to a Harry Kane penalty, but the spot-kick should never have been awarded as Kane, who was fouled by Shkodran Mustafi, had been in an offside position.

Arsenal then missed a late penalty of their own when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw his effort saved by Hugo Lloris, while Gunners midfielder Lucas Torreira received a straight red card in stoppage time.

Emery was keen to praise his players after the match and refused to criticise the officials, instead preferring to talk up the need for VAR in the Premier League. “I am proud of the players, of our work and then you can win, you can lose, you can draw like we did,” Emery told reporters.

“But, above all, we played like a team, feeling together and pushing individually and collectively. “Two months ago, I said to everybody that I think VAR is coming to help the referees. “Today, for me, the referees were with a big personality, but it’s not enough for making the best decisions in difficult actions in the box for them and for us. I think VAR is coming to help them to be fair for a match like today.”