Fabian Hurzeler has lamented Arsenal’s ‘time-wasting’ in their win over Brighton and called for the Premier League to introduce a rule to prevent such tactics.
Brighton succumbed to a 1-0 defeat on Wednesday night with Bukayo Saka’s ninth-minute strike proving the difference for the Gunners, who went seven points clear at the top of the table after Manchester City dropped points against Nottingham Forest.
Hurzeler was questioned after the match whether he thought Brighton should have had a penalty just before half-time, but the German manager instead pointed the finger at the referee’s handling of the delays caused by Arsenal players.
He particularly took issue with goalkeeper David Raya hitting the deck multiple times with supposed injuries, only to be fine to continue moments later.
Asked about the penalty shout, Hurzeler said: “We have to accept that decision. It’s more for me that he handles the other things better.
“In general, the Premier League needs to find a rule because that’s not for football what Arsenal did there. That was more the point I made to him.
“I think everyone saw it and everyone has to make their own opinion. I said it before the game and we shouldn’t use too many words about this and more focus about the performance. We did well tonight.”
Probed on what needs to change, the Brighton manager added: “Give more yellow cards for time-wasting. Do you see a goalkeeper going down three times in a game?”
It comes after a week of discourse bemoaning the shift towards set-piece play in the Premier League, something that Liverpool manager Arne Slot said had made the English top flight “not a joy to watch”.
Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, was all smiles as his side took a huge step towards a first league title in 22 years.
“This was a really difficult night,” he said. “I knew it would be a really, really tough test.
“The effort they put in was astronomical. That commitment and desire to win.
“We had to make adjustments but the commitment is unbelievable.”
Match-winner Saka added that he knew results had gone Arsenal’s way when he heard a second roar come from the away end at full-time.
“This feels like a massive win for us,” he said. “We heard the fans celebrating out of nowhere.
“It’s a nice feeling, but we try to focus on getting our result then the rest is out of our hands.
“We know we are in a race and it is very tight, tonight playing at the same time and both needed to win massive games. We did and they didn’t.
“We are going to enjoy the result. It feels like a massive result regardless of the City result. We didn’t play our best but it is about the results.”
