‘He's the don at the moment’ - Carragher likens Arteta to Sir Alex Ferguson after furious referee rant

Arsenal secured a 2-0 win at the Stadium of Light, but the match was overshadowed by a contentious first-half penalty. 

With the score at 0-0, referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot after adjudging that Ezri Konsa had fouled Dan Ballard while grappling at a corner.

The decision was upheld by VAR, but Arteta delivered a scathing post-match critique, labelling the call "unacceptable".

Arteta’s rant has led Carragher to believe Arteta is now asserting his authority in a manner reminiscent of the league's most dominant managers.

Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher drew parallels between Arteta and two of the Premier League's most influential figures, Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho.

"This was Mikel Arteta becoming the Sir Alex Ferguson of the Premier League right now," Carragher declared. 

"He's the don at the moment; he's the Premier League champion. A lot of new managers about... he's been in his role for six or seven years, and he feels he's in a position of power to say, 'Yeah, it wasn't a penalty.' And I don't think it was a penalty."

Carragher highlighted that Arteta deliberately used his media obligations to control the narrative. "One of the journalists made a point about, no matter what question you asked him, he kept going back to the penalty," he explained. 

"He was determined to get the narrative out that this won't happen again to his club. But that's a manager—we've seen it with Sir Alex Ferguson, we've seen it with Jose Mourinho."

Arteta will need to refocus his squad as they face a packed schedule. Arsenal are set to host Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, providing an opportunity to rotate players and maintain their winning streak.