Arsenal awarded controversial penalty against Man City, fans split over Anthony Taylor's decision

Fans are split over the controversial penalty as Eddie Nketiah was fouled by Ederson, resulting in Arsenal's equaliser against Manchester City.

Kevin De Bruyne brilliantly opened the scoring after Takehiro Tomiyasu misplaced his back-pass to Aaron Ramsdale.

But the Gunners hit back just before half-time when Bukayo Saka coolly converted a penalty, but the decision to award the spot-kick has got fans online talking.

Granit Xhaka floated a lofted pass to Nketiah, who latched onto the ball then had a shot at goal whilst being bundled over by the Man City goalkeeper.

Ederson fouls Eddie Nketiah. Image: Premier League

As the ball was cleared off the line, match referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot to the dismay of the visitors.

People on social media were divided by Taylor's decision to award Arsenal a penalty against Man City.

One Twitter user wrote: "The ref is being influenced by the crowd so easily."

A second tweeted: "That’s never a penalty, he’s already kicked the ball!"

A third argued: "Obviously a pen. What game are these replies watching?"

A fourth added: "If that happens on the halfway line a free kick is given. Penalty.2

A fifth said: "Referee’s trying to make amends for the weekend absolutely shocking decision considering it’s a potential title decider."

Another claimed: "This ref been dying to give arsenal a penalty. So rigged."

Speaking on BBC Sport, Chris Sutton believes the right decision was made. He said: "I think Arsenal are deservedly level, and the penalty was the correct decision."

It's currently 1-1 at break.

Topics: Football, Manchester City, Arsenal

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

@NasJabbar