Tettey frustrated after late loss at Arsenal
ALEX Tettey says he and his Norwich City team-mates âdeserved moreâ after their controversial 3-1 defeat against Arsenal on Saturday afternoon.The Canaries were leading going into the final ten minutes thanks to Michael Turnerâs header, but after Mikel Arteta equalised from the penalty spot, goals from Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski secured the home team all three points.
Chris Hughton felt aggrieved about the decision to award the spot-kick after the assistant official overruled the referee when Kei Kamara and Giroud collided in the box, and Tetteyâs thoughts mirrored those of his manager.
âThe lads are really disappointed. The goal was a disappointing decision from the linesman â the referee was ten metres away from the incident and he didnât say anything, and the lineman whoâs far away is saying itâs a penalty,â said the Norwegian midfielder.
âFrom my point of view, Podolski was leaning on Kei and Kei got the ball. I turned to run forward and the linesman said it was the penalty. The referee had a great view but didnât whistle.
âThat goal didnât help us â we worked really hard for 80 minutes and I think we deserved more.â
The result now focusses attention on the visit of basement club Reading next week, and the 27-year-old is under no illusions about the importance of the match at Carrow Road.
âNext weekend is like a cup final. There canât be one point or no points from that game â we need three points. Thatâs a massive game for us,â he added.
âI donât want to stand here and say that if we donât win that game weâll be in trouble, because after that we have four more games, but itâs massive for us. From now, itâs all weâll be focussing on.â
Tettey had returned to the line-up for his first start since the match against Fulham in early February, and he says he hopes he did enough to play a big part against the Royals next Saturday.
âIâve missed some games and Iâm really glad I got to play almost 90 minutes and get my form and fitness going,â he said.
âIâm really sad about the result today though, because the lads put in a really good shift, but from my point of view, it was good for me to come back and I hope to work hard and get some playing time again next weekend.â