Honest Arshavin: Ref Mason was wrong to give Arsenal a penalty at Portsmouth



Andrey Arshavin admitted that referee Lee Mason was wrong to give a penalty that helped Arsenal to a 3-0 defeat of Portsmouth.



The Russian appeared to wag his finger dismissivly towards the official after Mason judged that Sean Davis had brought down Arshavin late in the first half.



Portsmouth were left fuming as Nicklas Bendtner put the visitors 2-0 up, but Arshavin insisted that an earlier foul on him in the box had gone unpunished.



'The first incident was indisputably a penalty,' said the 27-year-old. 'The second was at the referee's discretion.'



The former Zenit St Petersburg forward, who was made captain for the say by Arsene Wenger, was denied a place on the scoresheet when Noe Pamarot, as the last defender, hauled him down with 12 minutes to go.



Hauled down: Arshavin crumbles under Pamarot's challenge

Pamarot was sent off, leaving Arshavin angry that he could not put the icing on a man-of-the-match performance.



'It is insulting,' he said. 'I didn't want him to be sent off. It would have been better to let me go one-on-one with the keeper. I would have scored.'



The £12million signing admitted he was surprised to be handed the captain's armband just three months after joining the Gunners.



'Honestly, it was somewhat unexpected,' he said. '(Cesc) Fabregas and Kolo Toure didn't play, nor did some other senior players. I was the oldest in the team, so perhaps that's why Arsene chose me.'



Criticism: Arshavin was less than enamoured with the performance of referee Mason, who booked the Russian

As well as singling out Denilson for devastating service from midfield, he criticised Portsmouth for showing a lack of motivation.



But he revealed he had been fascinated by his first visit to the South Coast city.



'The history of the city is really interesting,' he said. 'Today I learned that King Richard the Lionheart paid particular attention to this town. And I was told that Charles Dickens was born near here.



'I saw the sea and lots of yachts. I didn't see the city, but on the bus travelling here I noticed a very beautiful coastline.'