Brighton forward Joao Pedro has given his honest verdict following the controversial penalty incident against Arsenal this weekend. The Brazilian claims he took a 'hit' from William Saliba in the incident which resulted in the Seagulls' equalising penalty.

The Gunners went ahead early on through a superb piece of solo work from Ethan Nwaneri. They than failed to make good of the advantage before Brighton worked themselves back into the game by winning a penalty.

Pedro had flicked the ball up into the air, then different recorded angles of the incident made it difficult to tell whether Saliba got a touch on the ball.

READ MORE: Saliba error, missed red card, Arteta misery - Arsenal penalty verdict after more VAR controversy

READ MORE: Arsenal second transfer confirmed as club make decision on future of wonderkid

Both players' heads moved towards the ball, it got a flick-on and as the Arsenal defender's head struck Pedro's, the Brazilian went to ground. Referee Anthony Taylor took time to ponder and eventually awarded the spot-kick in the moment.

"I just made the touch and tried to control the ball and he hit me but yeah, I always train penalties in training and I could score today," Pedro told Brighton's club YouTube channel.

The away team's immediate reaction was to be incensed, protesting that Saliba had made contact with the ball before accidentally following through on the Seagulls striker.

Mikel Arteta would say after the match: "Bizarre. That means we have probably never seen it before. I haven't in my career. So it is a new one."

VAR Darren England had ratified the decision, with the Premier League's statement on the incident reading: "The referee's call of penalty for a foul by Saliba on Joao Pedro was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed there was sufficient contact for a penalty."

Two days on, little can be done to change the outcome of the decision, nor the result. Frustration over not picking up three points only grew on Sunday when title rivals and current English top-flight leaders Liverpool dropped two points against Manchester United at Anfield.