Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori have broken their silence following Arsenal's controversial clash against Brighton. The Seagulls held Mikel Arteta's side to a 1-1 draw at the Amex Stadium on Saturday evening, denting the Gunners' title hopes.

Ethan Nwaneri fired Arsenal ahead inside the opening quarter of an hour, becoming the first player in the club's history to score two Premier League goals before turning 18. Halfway into the second-half, Joao Pedro netted an equaliser for the Seagulls from 12-yards.

Anthony Taylor, the on-field referee, adjudged the Brighton striker to have been fouled by William Saliba inside the Gunners' box following a clash of heads – and Darren England, the Video Assistant Referee, agreed. The decision raised eyebrows in the Arsenal technical area.

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Speaking to reporters after the game, Arteta questioned the call, claiming that his player won the duel. The Spaniard said: "Well, I’ve never seen a decision like this in my career, I asked the boys if they have, and no one has seen this before.

"When you look at the incident, the player, Joao touching the ball then Saliba touching the ball, you can see contact there? If I expect it [to be overturned]? I checked after three seconds, they said they already checked."

The Arsenal players were just as baffled by the decision as their manager, with Declan Rice, Jorginho, Gabriel and Saliba all seen to be crowding around Taylor. After the game, Riccardo Calafiori marked the disappointing result with a post on Instagram, which he captioned: "We go again on Tuesday [red heart emoji]!"

Gabriel said exactly the same thing on his Instagram story despite reason to feel aggrieved. Overlooking the controversial moment from the game, the Gunners defender said: "We go again on Tuesday [arm flexed emoji]!"

Arsenal will host Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday night. Speaking to reporters after the Brighton clash, Arteta revealed he 'hopes' his squad are in a better position to face the Magpies.

He said: "Well obviously, we cannot make a decision based on one performance or one day where a lot of circumstances, not only the players that were lost but the fact we had to take Ethan out, we could use Martin for only a limited time, hopefully on Tuesday we will be in a better position."