Arsenal’s clash with Manchester United has been met with controversy and debate. Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli had raced through the United defense at the 11th Minute. He picked up a pass from Bukayo Saka and was able to finish cooly past David de Gea.
However, only minutes later a length VAR check occurred. The goal was disallowed as Martin Odegaard was found to have fouled Christen Eriksen during the goal’s buildup. The Arsenal captain had dispossessed the Eriksen moments earlier. Referee Paul Tierney ruled out the goal after paying a visit to the screen on the side of the pitch.
Gary Neville on Sky Sports had said:
“It was soft no doubt about that, There are complaints, but I thought Eriksen was fairly dispossessed. I don’t think he could see the Man United player that came and got it off him, it’s Odegaard, he just steals it – there’s a little nudge – but it’s something from nothing.
“It might be a foul, it could be that knee that comes across. From the other angle it looked really soft but there is that other angle that came out which I think means it will be disallowed… it’s that knee into the side of Eriksen that’s going to cost Arsenal.”
Arsenal’s loss attracts Twitter’s attention
Even before the beginning of the match, there was controversy as both referee Paul Tierney and VAR referee Lee Mason are both from areas close to Manchester.
The likes of Gary Linekar and Alan Shearer criticized the decision, taking to Twitter to explain their outrage. Linekar tweeted:
“Here we go again. VAR is so tedious.
“It certainly wasn’t clear and obvious (they looked at about 20 replays) and VAR is there for howlers not to re referee the game. It’s so boring.”
While Shearer’s tweet simply said:
“What a load of c**p. #var.”
