Arsenal will contact refereeing body Pro Ref to seek an explanation for a controversial penalty awarded to Sunderland in their 2-0 victory on Saturday. The incident involved defender Ezri Konsa and Sunderland's Dan Ballard, with referee John Brooks pointing to the spot before VAR confirmed the decision.
Mikel Arteta was booked during the match for leaving his technical area and later criticised the call. "This is not acceptable at this level," the Arsenal manager said. "I watched it 20 times and I cannot find a way to understand how they think to give a penalty in that situation."
Television pundits Ashley Williams and Thomas Frank agreed the decision was wrong. Williams described the contact as 'almost like a perfect hip toss in judo' from Ballard, arguing it should never have been a foul. The controversy comes after Pro Ref previously apologised to another club for an erroneous VAR call earlier this season.
Despite the disputed decision, goalkeeper David Raya saved Enzo Le Fee's spot-kick to preserve Arsenal's clean sheet. Bruno Guimaraes had opened the scoring just two minutes into the match, and Bukayo Saka sealed the win with a late penalty after Sunderland's Reinildo Mandava was sent off.
The win at the Stadium of Light keeps Arsenal top of the Premier League with a perfect record of 12 points from four games. Saka, who scored his third goal of the season from the spot, leads the team's scoring charts.
More detail at BBC Sport Football
