Furious Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta insists his side have been robbed of “two” certain late penalties

Mikel Arteta blamed two “scandalous” penalty decisions after Arsenal were frustrated by Newcastle on Tuesday night.

The Premier League leaders failed to score for the first time all season as a heated clash at the Emirates ended 0-0.

Arsenal had turned down a couple of penalty calls in the second half – first when Gabriel appeared to have his shirt pulled by Dan Burn and then after Granit Xhaka’s late cross caught Jacob Murphy’s arm – the latter leaving Arteta indignant.

Mikel Arteta (far right) was furious that Arsenal were not awarded two penalties on Tuesday

The Arsenal boss protested decisions during the goalless draw with Newcastle

Arteta felt a penalty for a move to Gabriel should have been handed down by defender Dan Burn

Neither was given by referee Andy Madley or VAR and Arteta lamented those post-game calls.

“There were two scandalous penalties,” said the Arsenal manager.

“It’s a penalty or no penalty and these are both penalties.”

Arteta had not spoken to Madley as he turned to the cameras and insisted: “I’m not here to talk about the umpires, sorry.”

Arteta was involved in an altercation with Eddie Howe over his late-game protests

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe admitted he would have asked for a penalty if the ball hit an Arsenal arm. But he claimed the referee was right.

“I don’t really remember the first one, so I can’t comment on that,” Howe said.

“Handball, I think if it were the other way around, I would be screaming for it. Probably not with the belief that it should be given because the distance is too small, I don’t think Jacob’s arm is up, I think he is by his side. For me, that shouldn’t be a penalty.”

The result means Arsenal are now eight points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.

Newcastle, now unbeaten in 15 games, are a point further up in third place.

Howe (left) and Arteta shook hands after the final whistle, seemingly putting the spit to bed

“I’m really proud of how we played, how we dominated the game. In the last third we lacked the spark to find the opening, to find the right moment and extra pass and a bit of final quality. We had a lot of situations around the penalty area trying to do better,” Arteta said.

Howe, meanwhile, praised a “top notch” defensive performance from his side.

“Very resilient, we defended very, very well as a collective all the way through,” he said.

“Arsenal are a top team, very good players and a very good style of play, we knew we had to do our best.”

He added: “I think the most pleasing thing is that I don’t think Arsenal have had many clear chances.”

Magpies boss Howe believes it would have been a farce for us if the penalty had been handed down

The two managers clashed late but both downplayed the tension on the touchline.

Arteta was outraged that Murhpy’s handball shout was not given and turned to get his thoughts across to the fourth official, prompting his opponent to intercept and clarify his own thoughts.

The two briefly engaged in a resulting argument, though they shook hands after the final whistle and seemingly made peace.

“Mikel is a top manager, a top coach, he’s done an incredible job here. And there were no issues between us,” said Howe, who also denied the troubled play was the result of any deliberate tactic on his part.

“I think both teams were equal. I don’t think it was our intention to do that,” he said.