Mikel Arteta should have been sanctioned for rule breach in Arsenal win vs Aston Villa
Mikel Arteta was up to his usual antics for Arsenal on Tuesday night.
Aston Villa’s title hopes took a hit in a 4-1 defeat away to Arsenal on Tuesday, with the Gunners barely having to get out of first gear to extend their advantage at the top.
Ollie Watkins continued his impressive record at the Emirates, but his late strike proved to be nothing short of a consolation for the Villans.
However, the clash wasnt without controversy, and one of the biggest incidents in the game has largely gone unspoken.
Arteta fails to comply with law vs Aston Villa
Amadou Onana could have had a penalty on another day, while Emi Martinez could also have been penalised for carrying the ball out of the box.
They were just two of the controversies at the Emirates on Tuesday, with a third revolving around Arteta.
At one point in the game, when Jadon Sancho was looking to break away for the Villans, Arteta was bordering on entering the field of play, and not for the first time this season.
On this occasion, it went unpunished, but when speaking exclusively to Villa News, Keith Hackett explained how the Spaniard was fortunate to avoid a yellow card.
“I fully appreciate the passion of managers and, at times, the frustration they face when players are failing to act on their instructions. The technical area is specifically defined in law that the edge of the area must be at a minimum of one metre from the touchline.
“Arteta, like many managers, fails to comply with the law and remain inside the designated area whilst the game is in progress.
“A word from the fourth official should be sufficient to stop this transgression in law. If, after receiving the warning from the fourth official, he repeats the offence. The referee should be brought over to issue a yellow card to any manager committing this offence.“
How have Aston Villa’s title chances shifted after Arsenal defeat?
Prior to Christmas, Villa were predicted to finish on 71 points, and had a 5.27 per cent chance of winning the Premier League title.
After a win against Chelsea, but then a defeat to Arsenal, those title chances have dropped to just 3.74 per cent, though their expected points tally has increased to 72 according to Opta‘s supercomputer.
As for their chances of qualifying for the Champions League, they stand at a 91.91 per cent likelihood, which, given the nine-point gap on fifth-placed Chelsea, comes as no surprise.
A top-four finish would still be an excellent achievement for the Villans, though they will continue to fight for their first league title since 1981.
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