The mirror handball incident occurred with about 10 minutes remaining in the match.
The Forest right-back attempted to control a bouncing ball in his own penalty area while being challenged by Gabriel Jesus and collided with his own teammate Elliot Anderson.
The ball bounced off Aina’s shoulder and onto his arm as the defender tried to turn, prompting Arteta and Arsenal to make vehement appeals for a spot-kick – to no avail.
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While Arteta was adamant that his side had been denied a “clear penalty”, Forest boss Sean Dyche, surprisingly, did not agree.
Dyche said, “I think if these started being given, we would all have to give up. I think it is ridiculous. We have to be careful about them.”
“If you’re going to give it (in the form of handball) you might as well cancel football. The rules have to be careful. You know what they should look for? People pretending to be hurt. This is the new diving.”
Retired Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann told BBC Sport that he thought the officials had come to the right decision, adding: “The arm is close to the body and in the appropriate position.”
The decision divided the viewing pundits, with former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin telling BBC Radio 5 Live that he felt Aina’s hand had “moved towards the ball”, but former Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard insisted that awarding a spot-kick for the incident would have been “lenient”.
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