Arsenal held to goalless draw at Nottingham Forest – but should Gunners have been awarded penalty?

The Aina handball incident took place approximately 10 minutes before the end of the match.

As the Forest right-back attempted to control a bouncing ball in his own penalty area, he was tackled by Gabriel Jesus and was hit by his own teammate Elliot Anderson.

The ball hit Aina’s shoulder and hit his arm as the defender tried to turn, causing Arteta and Arsenal to appeal fiercely for a spot-kick, but to no avail.

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While Arteta was adamant his side were denied an “open penalty”, Forest boss Sean Dyche unsurprisingly disagreed.

Dyche said, “I think if these things start being given, we should all give up. I think it’s ridiculous. We have to be careful about them.”

“If you’re going to give this away, you can cancel football [as handball]. It is necessary to pay attention to the rules. Do you know what they should look for? People pretending to be injured. This is the new dive.”

Retired Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann told BBC Sport that he thought the referees made the right decision and said: “The arm is close to the body and in a justified position.” he said.

The decision divided observers; Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin told BBC Radio 5 Live he thought Aina’s arm “moved towards the ball”, but former Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard insisted it would have been “soft” to award a penalty for the incident.