Erik ten Hag was left bemoaning several decisions he felt went against his Manchester United side as they sank to a dramatic late defeat at Arsenal.
Stoppage-time strikes from Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus secured a 3-1 win for the hosts, who had equalised through Martin Odegaard just 110 seconds after Marcus Rashford had opened the scoring for United.
The late double would have been even more galling for the away side as substitute Alejandro Garnacho thought he had won it with his own strike, only to see it ruled out by a close offside VAR call.
That was just one of the close decisions ten Hag believes fell in Arsenal’s favour as the Red Devils slipped to a second defeat of the season in north London.
The Dutchman also felt Kai Havertz should have been booked for diving after seeing a penalty award overturned by VAR and that Rice’s goal came about only because Jonny Evans had been fouled – while he called for debutant Rasmus Hojlund to have been given a spot-kick of his own.
“The performance was right but the result was not on our side and definitely many decisions were against us,” he said.
“Let’s start at the penalty given but rejected. Everyone can see it’s a simulation but he did not get booked for it.
“Then the foul on Hojlund in the penalty area and I don’t think it was even noticed by the VAR. Then the disallowed goal from Garnacho.
“I think they looked from the wrong angle and it’s onside. Then the final goal. How can they allow that? It’s a clear and obvious foul on Jonny Evans otherwise he would have blocked the shot from Declan Rice. So it’s a lot.”
Despite the defeat ten Hag felt his team – without a number of injured first-team players and having also lost centre-back pairing Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof to injury and illness, respectively, during the game – put in a strong showing.
“I also have a good feeling because our performance was very good,” he added.
“I won’t say it was perfect because there is definitely room for improvement. But if we see our compactness, pressing, moving with the ball and making the counters, very calm, we never gave Arsenal an opportunity to press us.
“The next stage is we could have done that better and the movement we could have done in the right moments. There were a lot of positives in this game but there is still a lot to do.”
Arsenal have now won three of their opening four games as Rice once again shone following his £105million summer move from West Ham.
He topped off a fine display with the important second goal as manager Mikel Arteta hailed the influence of the England midfielder.
“I think, a tremendous performance,” he said.
“When you look at how a holding midfielder needs to dominate his area, how he needs to break up play, how he glided the team together when they were stretched a bit.
“Then he produced a magic moment to win us the game, so, (I’m) really happy with him.
“He’s a great kid. I think he’s got a good mixture between being extremely demanding with everybody and himself, having a bit of banter and being around the staff and the boys in a really humble way. So I think he’s fitting in brilliantly.”
Pochettino's Chelsea future still unsure despite Tottenham win
Mauricio Pochettino admitted that he will need time to turn things around at Chelsea, but is unsure if he will be given it.
The Blues kept their hopes of a European place alive on Thursday with an impressive 2-0 victory over Pochettino's former side, Tottenham, thanks to goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson.
Despite getting back to winning ways, the Argentinian’s future at the club is still subject to speculation as the end of the season draws closer.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Pochettino said he does not know what the future holds for him at Chelsea.
He said: "Maybe today because we won, I can explain a little bit better. I want to say enough is enough. I think all managers need time to translate their ideas and their philosophy. We need to have time, but it is not my decision.
"It's difficult to see every single week that I am under scrutiny and judgement. Yes, it's not my decision to be here or not to be here.
"I cannot tell you. I can say nothing. If we want to match the history of Chelsea, I think there is a lot of work to do. We will see if we have time to build this way.
"I am so, so proud of the guys, all the squad we have - 25, 27 players. I work for them. We want the best for them. Until the last day, we are going to work for them."
Chelsea were missing 14 first-team players through injury against Spurs but earned three points, which moved them above West Ham into eighth with 51 points.
Pochettino added: "Today was fantastic, full credit to the players. It is my first time in the season I really do feel so, so happy.
"It is the moment after 10 months the team really starts to realise how we need to compete. Today we competed really well against a great team.
" [We may need] some luck to have this type of result, it helps give belief to the players that this is the way. "
Europa Conference League: Aston Villa stunned by Olympiacos
Aston Villa were stunned by Olympiacos as they suffered a 4-2 home defeat in the Europa Conference League.
On what the Villa faithful hoped would be a famous night at Villa Park, they instead saw their team dispatched by their Greek opponents in the first leg of their semi-final encounter.
Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick for the visitors, who were 2-0 up inside 30 minutes on Thursday.
Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby struck either side of the interval to restore parity, but El Kaabi sealed his hat-trick from the penalty spot before Santiago Hezze added further gloss with a sensational finish. To add to Villa's misery, Douglas Luiz then missed a penalty late on.
In the other semi-final tie, Fiorentina took a 3-2 aggregate lead against Club Brugge.
M'Bala Nzola was Fiorentina's hero in stoppage time, scoring in the 91st minute to nudge the Serie A team ahead.
Hans Vanaken had scored from a penalty following a VAR check for handball in the 17th minute, cancelling out Riccardo Sottil's early opener, though Fiorentina restored their lead through Andrea Belotti before half-time in a frantic first half.
Thiago equalised for Brugge, but it was ultimately not enough.
Europa League: Wirtz and Andrich goals put Leverkusen on the brink, Marseille hold Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen put one foot in the Europa League final as Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich scored in Thursday's 2-0 semi-final first-leg win over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma were masters of their own downfall as Wirtz opened the scoring after 28 minutes, Rick Karsdorp's horrible error allowing Alex Grimaldo to race into the area and tee up Wirtz to finish into an unguarded net.
Though Daniele De Rossi's hosts improved after the break, Andrich added a spectacular second with 73 minutes on the clock, the midfielder giving Mile Svilar no chance as he side-footed into the top-left corner from 25 yards out.
Roma should have pulled one back four minutes into stoppage time, but Tammy Abraham could only nod over from inside the six-yard box after a goalmouth scramble, and they now have it all to do in next week's second leg.
Leverkusen's unbeaten run for 2023-24 stands at 47 games across all competitions (39 wins, eight draws), and they are now overwhelming favourites to stamp their ticket to the final in Dublin.
The other semi-final tie remains in the balance at the halfway stage, with Atalanta being pegged back in a 1-1 draw with Marseille at the Stade Velodrome.
Having scored twice in La Dea's memorable win at Anfield in the last round, Gianluca Scamacca took in Teun Koopmeiners' pass before finishing low across goal 11 minutes in, but Gian Piero Gasperini's team couldn't hold on.
Chancel Mbemba was the unlikely goalscorer for Marseille, stepping out of defence to clip a 25-yard effort against the far post and in after 20 minutes.
Neither side could find a winner from there, meaning it's all to play for ahead of next week's return fixture at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.
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