Arsenal receive new Brighton penalty verdict from PGMOL after Mikel Arteta fume
PGMOL chief Howard Webb has defended referee Anthony Taylor's decision to award Brighton & Hove Albion a penalty in Saturday's 1-1 draw against Arsenal.
The Seagulls equalised from the penalty spot midway through the second half at the Amex Stadium after William Saliba had clashed heads with forward Joao Pedro.
After the game, Mikel Arteta said he was "very disappointed" by the decision, the circumstances of which he had "never seen" before.
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However, Webb has insisted the call to penalise William Saliba was the correct one despite the protests of the Arsenal players and manager.
On the latest episode of Mic'd Up, Webb said: "It's a late contact by a player who hasn't played the ball himself. The ball touched him, but he's not played it. And [Joao] Pedro goes down in the penalty area.
"So when you break it down in that way, it's a foul. And I know that it has split opinion, but I've also heard lots of people see it that way, just as a late contact by a player who's failed to head the ball and has made contact with an opponent in the penalty area."
He added: "If he [Saliba] heads the ball first, if he's first to that loose ball, I have no issue with that and then there's a collision, but that's not what happens. [Joao] Pedro gets there first, he heads the ball and he actually heads it on to Saliba. Saliba goes into [Joao] Pedro, the ball brushes his head, but he goes into [Joao] Pedro.
"That touch on the ball that you reference, Michael, doesn't negate the possible award of the penalty. We've seen other examples of where the ball might touch a a defender. There's still heavy contact on the follow through, and it's a penalty. If a player plays the ball cleanly away, heads it away, [then we're] almost certainly looking at something different.
"But that's not what happens here. [Joao] Pedro heads the ball onto Saliba. Saliba goes into [Joao] Pedro and takes him down and for that reason we think this is a very supportable penalty kick."
