Hector Bellerin said he could not see any contact on Mousa Dembele for the penalty that secured Tottenham a draw with Arsenal on Sunday.
Harry Kane would convert from the spot to claim a 1-1 draw for Tottenham after Dembele had collided with Laurent Koscielny just inside the area for what Mark Clattenburg deemed to be a penalty.
It was not an assessment that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger shared – though he admitted he would have been clamouring for a spot kick if roles had been reversed – and Bellerin was also far from convinced that the incident merited a penalty.
“I was close to where it happened but I didn’t really see any contact,” Bellerin told the club website. “But the referee was there and if that’s what he thinks then we have to take it on the chin and try to get another goal.
“We can’t just be thinking about what the referee says or what he doesn’t say. We need to get going with our game and make sure we score another goal.”
Arsenal had snatched the lead three minutes before half-time after a sustained period of pressure on the visitors’ goal, Kevin Wimmer diverting Mesut Ozil’s free-kick into his own net. It was another controversial strike as both Alexis Sanchez and Shkodran Mustafi seemed to be in an offside position, forcing the Tottenham defender to head the ball.
The hosts failed to build on that advantage and, despite introducing Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from the bench, rarely looked like finding a second.
Bellerin though was convinced that his side had done enough to claim all three points.
“I think it was not about not losing it, the team had enough to win it. We had control of the game for most of it and I’m a bit disappointed with the result.
“Everyone worked really hard, even after the penalty everyone wanted to keep pressing and playing our own game.”
