Richard Keys blasts Arsenal after Man Utd controversy – 'They get away with it'

Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys has suggested that Arsenal's decisive goalin their 1-0 victory over Manchester United should have been ruled out.

The 68-year-old also hinted at a certain level of gamesmanship from the Gunners during set-pieces, stating: "We all know what they do".

The controversy unfolded at Old Trafford on Sunday whenUnited'sgoalkeeper, Altay Bayindir, failed to deal with a corner, leaving Arsenal's Riccardo Calafiori with an easy tap-in to putMikel Arteta's side ahead in the hard-fought win.

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This led to ex-professionals finding it hard to defend the Turkish shot-stopper, while former referee Mark Clattenburg also argued thatthe winning goal should have been disallowed.

Following the incident, Bayindir appealed for a foul due to perceived pressure from Arsenal defender William Saliba. However, VAR did not deem the incident significant enough to alert referee Simon Hooper.

Keys is of the opinion that Arsenal were fortunate with the goal and suggested that Arteta's team often "push boundaries" during set-pieces. He wrote: "Weak? Maybe a little bit. Soft? Perhaps. Could've done better? Of course. That's always the case. Few leave a field of play satisfied with what they've done. But - Bayindir was fouled.

"We all know what Arsenal do at set-pieces. They push boundaries all the time. Sometimes they get away with it - on other occasions they don't. They did yesterday (Sunday).

"Now I'll explain why Saliba should've been penalised. I have no problem with him standing where he did. He's entitled to do that, but the moment he blocks the keeper by turning his back to him and then backing into him - that's a foul. Take another look at where Bayindir ends up. He's in the back of the net with the ball. Saliba sent him there."

Whilst the general view appears to be that Bayindir was impeded, former United skipper Gary Neville criticised the United keeper, reports the Mirror.

"It's going to keep hurting United," said Neville from the commentary box. "The goalkeeper has got to be stronger. I think he will complain that he was fouled. He's got a player in front of him, there's a lot of pushing and shoving going on. I just think your goalkeeper has to be stronger.

"Get that player out of the way. It's Saliba. He's not got his arms up, I don't think he's done anything wrong at all. Bayındır if anything has his arm on him. He just parries it, it goes through his hands. It's definitely a goal. He's just not strong enough."

Bayindir was handed the starting berth between the sticks as Andre Onana was omitted from Amorim's matchday squad at Old Trafford. Standing by his goalkeeper, United manager Ruben Amorim maintained that Arsenal's decisive strike ought to have been ruled out.

"I understand we want goals, but when you touch the goalkeeper that way, I think it's hard. Especially to lose with a goal like this, I think it's hard. It was a strange goal," he said.

"When you touch the goalkeeper, he needs to use his hands to catch the ball, not push players. He chooses to push players and let the ball pass. But again, it's the rules. If it's allowed, we need to do the same thing."

United captain Bruno Fernandes added: "Altay was saying in the moment he goes to push the ball, he gets a touch. But we know in the Premier League they don't give much in these type of situations, even if they had a meeting with us saying that if the players are blocking and not looking at the ball, they will whistle more."