MARK Travers was left frustrated to have conceded a penalty against Arsenal, believing Kai Havertz “dangles his left foot” before going to ground.

With the game locked at 0-0 at Emirates Stadium, the Gunners took the lead on the stroke of half-time when forward Havertz went around a sliding Travers, before clipping his leg and going to ground.

Referee David Coote pointed to the penalty spot, with Bukayo Saka tucking away the resulting spot-kick.

Second-half goals from Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice then ensured a 3-0 win for the league leaders.

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Asked for his take on the penalty incident, Travers told the Daily Echo: “I think from a goalkeeper’s perspective, we’re just trying to come out and make a save.

“I’m not thinking about Havertz dangling a leg. I’m just trying to make myself big, try and make a save.

“Obviously he touches it past and dangles his left foot there.

“That’s the ref’s decision. It’s frustrating, but there’s nothing I can do about that now.

“I don’t know what else I can do, just come out and stand still?

“If he hits it first time and it goes in, you’re going to be asking why I didn’t make myself big and try and make the save. But that’s football, it is what it is.”

Asked if he felt the decision may get overturned after a VAR review, Travers added: “Once the ref makes a decision, it’s quite difficult.

“But I just felt like he left his trailing leg to come into my foot.

“I didn’t try and come off the ground or affect him, I just tried to stay low, make myself big and make a save.

“It looks a bit unnatural to leave your foot that low when you’re trying to run forward, so it is what it is.

“The ref made his decision and we have to get on with it.”

Star winger Saka then showed his composure from the spot, waiting for Travers to commit before rolling the ball the opposite way.

“It’s a tough one. It’s a new sort of technique coming in,” said the goalkeeper.

“It’s hard with the pressure moment, does he stick to that, does he go back and hit his old reverse and just power it in?

“It’s one of those things. It is what it is and it’s a good penalty in the end.”

Cherries struggled to impose themselves during the first half with Arsenal pinning them in and the visitors relied on a string of Travers saves and defensive blocks to stay level.

The second half was a different story, Cherries looking dangerous and finding the net through Antoine Semenyo, although it was controversially disallowed.

“They came on us really good,” said Travers.

“They got off to a really good start. The atmosphere was obviously really good.

“But we had a good chat at half-time, we were really disappointed with how we performed.

“The manager told us what needed to be changed and tweaked a few things and we came out second half fighting and the lads gave 100 per cent.”

The 24-year-old added: “It was frustrating in the end. We had to suffer in the first half.

“They put a lot of pressure on us, but the lads did really well.

“We came into this game in really good form, so we wanted to show we can play at this high level as well, so it’s a disappointing result in the end.”