Martin Keown ‘the grand fromage of bias’ as Simon Jordan and Gabby Agbonlahor fume at Arsenal take

Martin Keown has faced more accusations of biased commentary towards Arsenal.

The former Gunners star, who played more than 400 times for the club, was on punditry duty for their Champions League draw with Bayer Leverkusen.

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The major talking point was the penalty awarded to Arsenal in the final minutes of the game when Noni Madueke was adjudged to have been fouled in the box.

Kai Havertz stepped up against his former club and scored the resulting spot-kick to take a 1-1 draw back to the Emirates.

However, there were claims that Madueke dived to win the penalty.

Three-time Premier League winner Keown was firmly in the camp that Madueke had received enough contact to go down.

He said on TNT Sport: “For me it was a penalty. 

“You had to see it from different angles first but for me, that left foot definitely gets trapped in from the torso of (Malik Tillman). There’s no doubt about that.”

TNT Sports presenter Lynsey Hipgrave appeared to question Keown’s objectivity, saying: “If that was given against Arsenal though, what would you be thinking?”

Keown replied: “You’re turning things around though. It wasn’t Lynsey. It wasn’t a penalty given against Arsenal.”

Hipgrave added: “But would you be saying to me he (Tillman) hardly touched him (Madueke)?”

Keown continued: “What I will say is that VAR won’t go against that if there’s any kind of contact. And we can see there that there was contact.”

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The accusations of biased punditry didn’t stop there as his talkSPORT sparring partner Simon Jordan took to X to call out Keown.

The former Crystal Palace owner wrote: “Oh dear Martin ffs.

“Did I say that old Keown lacks objectivity. f**k me backwards, he is the grand fromage of bias.”

The debate continued onto talkSPORT Breakfast with former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor sticking the knife in.

He said: “Madueke dived for a penalty. A blatant dive. Mr Biased, Martin Keown, doing the game last night, said it was a definite penalty. It’s getting a bit silly now.

“He’s biased towards Arsenal. Definite dive and I’m just surprised that VAR didn’t overturn it. 

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“So Arsenal were very lucky and another boring game to watch. It was one of the games where I was like 5.45pm, can I have a little half hour nap here in the second half? 

“But I didn’t, I watched it through and it was a very, very boring game.”

Keown vs talkSPORT pundits

Keown has been a staunch defender of Arsenal this season amid criticism over the way they are playing.

Set pieces have been the name of the game as they bully opponents into submission with a very direct approach.

He called out Drive host Andy Goldstein for going ‘too far’ in his criticism of the Gunners.

He said: “The likes of Goldstein and people on these channels, other channels, diving in, ridiculing, loving it when other people don’t do well. That’s too far.”

Next in his sights was Alan Pardew for claiming Arsenal will have an asterisk next to their name if they win the title this season.

Keown responded by saying: “There are lots of pundits who think Arsenal should win all four and it’d be a disgrace if they don’t. 

“No, that’s not grown up thinking, is it? Of course it’s not. 

“Alan Pardew is acting like a schoolboy saying there should be an asterisk next to it. It’s silly, isn’t it? Unbelievable.”