He said:
"Initially, a challenge came in from Ashley Cole on Andy Cole. My initial reaction was 'Penalty', but the players' reactions from both sides put a little bit of doubt in my mind. I thought 'Have I got this decision correct'?
"If I gave the penalty, I then had to think about whether to dismiss Ashley Cole for denying a goalscoring opportunity. I needed to buy a little bit of time so I went across to my assistant, Dave Bryan, who had a great view.
"He informed me that Andy Cole had played the ball into Jens Lehmann's hands. The TV replays clearly show that."
Fulham fans clearly thought that they'd been robbed, and their mood didn't improve when Halsey disallowed Collins John's headed effort not long afterwards.
The travelling Gooners were in heaven though - Rarely have we been the beneficiaries of so many good refereeing decisions as we have been lately!