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Missed opportunity for Arsenal - but were they denied 'clear penalty'?



08:01

Media caption,

Arsenal stumble in draw against resilient Forest

By

Alex Howell

Football reporter

Published

9 hours ago

463 Comments

Arsenal may have stretched their lead at the top of Premier League to seven points on Saturday, but the goalless draw at Nottingham Forest will have left many Gunners fans reflecting on another missed opportunity.

Manchester City's 2-0 loss at Old Trafford offered Arsenal the chance to move nine points clear at the top of the table, but Mikel Arteta's side were left frustrated for the second league match running.

Having drawn 0-0 against Liverpool last week, it is the first time Arsenal have had consecutive stalemates in the top flight for 14 years - since the opening two games of the 2012-13 season against Sunderland and Stoke City.

While Arteta pointed to his side creating "four big chances" without facing a single shot on target from Forest, winger Noni Madueke admitted it felt like "a missed opportunity".

Arteta's biggest frustration was not being awarded a second-half penalty for a handball by Forest defender Ola Aina.

The Arsenal boss said: "I've just seen the replays - I think it's a clear intention to clear the ball inside and it's a clear penalty, so I don't understand why it's not been given."

'A clear penalty' or a 'ridiculous' claim?

Image source,Getty Images

Image caption,

Was Ola Aina fortunate not to be penalised for handball?

The Aina handball incident happened with about 10 minutes of the match remaining.

The Forest right-back attempted to control a bouncing ball in his own penalty area while being challenged by Gabriel Jesus and bumped by his own team-mate Elliot Anderson.

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The ball hit Aina's shoulder before striking his arm as the defe