Leicester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri refused to criticise referee Mark Clattenburg after the Premier League champions were denied two penalties in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal.
Leicester, beaten 2-1 at promoted Hull City in their opening game, had a penalty appeal turned down late in each half at the King Power Stadium.
The first, when Danny Drinkwater tumbled over Laurent Koscielny’s outstretched foot, seemed the right decision, but replays suggested Hector Bellerin should have been penalised for tripping Ahmed Musa late on.
But Ranieri told BT Sport: “The penalty is when the referees whistle.
“I don’t want to speak about the decisions. The manager makes mistakes, the referees make mistakes, the players make mistakes.”
Leicester lost Nampalys Mendy, who was making his full debut, to an ankle injury early in the second half and the French midfielder will undergo scans on Sunday.
“I don’t know (how bad it is),” Ranieri said. “We block his ankle. He twisted it. Tomorrow we’ll check. I hope it’s nothing serious. He’s not happy, of course.”
Like Ranieri, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also saw his side lose on the opening weekend, with last season’s runners-up falling to a 4-3 defeat at home to Liverpool.
While the Frenchman’s side remain without a win, he was pleased by their display.
“I think overall it was a good performance, a good match between two good teams,” Wenger told the BBC.
“It was a game of top-level intensity and I believe we responded well to last week’s disappointment.
“Leicester are a good team. They did not win the league and only lose three games last season for nothing. We had to fight until the end.
“We could have lost or won it in the last 20 minutes. We wanted to win the game and we finished with five attacking players on the pitch.”
