Arsenal have been hit with an FA charge stemming from their angry reaction to being refused a penalty during stoppage time in their fractious goalless draw with Newcastle United at the Emirates on Tuesday.
A number of Arsenal players surrounded referee Andrew Madley after he declined to give the Premier League leaders a penalty for a handball in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
It was one of two incidents that Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, claimed were “scandalous” after penalties were not awarded to his side. Arsenal have been charged with failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and have until Tuesday to respond. They are likely to face a heavy fine if they admit the charge or are found guilty.
Only last month, the Premier League warned clubs that they needed to crack down on bad behaviour, such as players surrounding a referee, after an increase in such incidents in the first half of the season.
Arteta has not been charged by the FA over his comments or his angry reaction on the side of the pitch to the penalties not being awarded. The first came when Newcastle’s Dan Burn pulled Gabriel’s shirt at a free kick and the second incident followed Granit Xhaka’s cross striking Jacob Murphy’s arm at close range.
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It was the end of a frustrating night for Arsenal, who found themselves thwarted by Newcastle’s tactics which included slowing down the game during which nine yellow cards were shown by Madley. The official ball-in-play time for the match was 51min 23 secs, four minutes less than the average for a Premier League game this season.
An FA statement read: “Arsenal FC have been charged with a breach of FA rule E20.1 following their Premier League match against Newcastle United FC on Tuesday, January 3.
“It is alleged that Arsenal FC failed to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion in the 95th minute, and the club have until Tuesday, January 10 to respond.”
