Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United: Danny Welbeck blamed for Gunners not getting penalty decision

Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard have both blamed Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck's decision to get up too soon for not getting the penalty decision late into the second half. All eyes were on referee Andre Marriner as substitute Matteo Darmian appeared to have fouled Welbeck in the box, but despite protests, there was no decision forthcoming,

Manchester United sauntered to a 3-1 victory at the Emirates, keeping the pressure on Manchester City whom they take on next weekend in the Manchester derby. The gap between the clubs is currently five points with City having a game in hand.

The forward got up straight away as the Gunners failed to score a second and bring a sense of competitiveness in the game. The north London club had gone two goals down as early as the 11th minute, following a series of defensive errors by Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi.

The Gunners got one back through Alexandre Lacazette but a series of brilliant saves by David de Gea, coupled with their own profligacy in front of goal meant that the north London club were unable to close the deficit.

And Ferdinand, who played alongside Welbeck during his time at United, has admitted he would have been furious with the Arsenal man had he been on the pitch.

"I would have been screaming at him," Ferdinand told BT Sport, as quoted by the Express. "If I was on his team today I would have been saying 'what are you getting up for? He kicked you, lay on the floor'. In training, I used to go mad. If he kicked you and it's a penalty, it's a penalty. Stay down."

Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard also thinks Welbeck made the wrong decision by getting to his feet.

"You want to win a game and you get brought down," the former Chelsea star said. "He knows he's had contact. If you give the referee two, three or four seconds... sometimes they need that to digest it and then they give it.

"The minute you jump up it makes the ref think 'oh he's up so there was maybe not the contact I thought there was'. We have to congratulate his intentions for not staying down but..."