Arsenal 1-1 Brentford: Arsenal feel robbed by last Saturday’s Brentford equalizer. It turned out afterwards that Ivan Toney’s goal should have been disallowed for offside.
Winter acquisition Leandro Trossard made it 1-0 four minutes after coming on. He walked in a low cross from Bukayo Saka at the far post. However, Arsenal was not able to enjoy the lead for a long time, as Toney headed in the equalizer fifteen minutes before the end. The VAR took a long look at the moment at the free kick, but ultimately saw no reason to disallow the goal.
The Premier League’s body admits their error
However, the umbrella referee body PGMOL has subsequently admitted that VAR Lee Mason made a mistake. If he had drawn a line to see if there was an offside, Christian Norgaard would have been found to be offside before he passed Toney.
Arsenal have filed a complaint about Brentford’s equalizer, which could have serious consequences for the title race. Manager Mikel Arteta himself concluded afterwards that it was offside when he saw the images again. “We’ve let the Premier League know what we think about it. We’ll probably get an explanation, but it’s too late. It’s a goal, it doesn’t matter anymore,” the Spaniard mentioned.
Brentford confirmed his status as a stunt team with the controversial equalizer. Arteta nevertheless thought Arsenal played well. “It is a very difficult team to play against. It’s frustrating, but this is the Premier League. I’m happy with the eagerness the boys have shown, how much they wanted to win,” said the manager of The Gunners, who are still top of the Premier League with six points more than Manchester City.
The controversy in the Brighton & Hove Albion vs Crystal Palace fixture
Brighton & Hove Albion was also the victim of a ‘human error’ on Saturday. Pervis Estupiñan saw a goal disallowed against Crystal Palace by the VAR in the first half, which later turned out to be unjustified. In the second half, Brighton took the lead through Solly March, after which James Tomkins scored the equalizer six minutes later. Brighton has already said it accepts the PMGOL’s apology.
