Arsenal boss Arteta unhappy with referee decisions after Aston Villa defeat

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was left to rue refereeing decisions as his side fell to a 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa.

Ollie Watkins scored the only goal of the game after just two minutes as the Gunners suffered a second consecutive Premier League defeat.

It leaves them rooted in mid-table on 31 points and facing a mammoth task to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Arteta admitted after the game that the Villans were better in both boxes, but he was upset by more poor officiating.

Arsenal have been on the sharp end of some questionable decisions in recent weeks and Arteta has seemingly had enough.

Speaking after the game, he said: “I’m extremely disappointed to lose and the way we lost it. We were the better team.

"We controlled every department but we gave them the ball. We gave them another three big chances.

Then when we had to score the goal, we didn’t find the right pass or the right shot.

"They were better in the boxes and that’s how you win games. We created enough opportunities. We didn’t score, we cannot win the game.

"We just gave them the ball, a moment you make a mistake and they punish you.

"You cannot win football matches if every week you do something like that. Four or five times we’ve played with 10 men. Against Wolves, we deserved to win both games by far but we lost both.

"[Red cards] cost us that game [against Wolves] – today other big decisions. Regardless of what the referee did today we should win the game comfortably.”

Arsenal were reduced to nine men against Wolves after both David Luiz and then Granit Xhaka were given their marching orders.

The club chose to appeal Luiz's straight red, but their protests were rejected and Luiz was handed an extended three-match ban.

It means he will now miss Arsenal's next fixture at home to Leeds United and their crunch clash with Man City later this month.

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