After the refereeing horror show from Stuart Attwell and his pals on VAR duty this past Saturday evening, let us take a closer look at the consistently appalling refereeing that has plagued Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side since the start of last season. Lee Mason, Michael Oliver, Andy Madley, David Coote etc etc, the list goes on of these sorry excuses for professionals who have repeatedly cost the club valuable points throughout crucial Premier League competition in the last 16 months (and longer). It has now reached the stage where the officiating is so excruciatingly poor, that you are left questioning whether there is something more sinister or nefarious going on.
Here are 12 instances of either utterly shambolic or unbelievably inconsistent decisions that have gone against Arsenal since the start of last year’s title challenging campaign.
- Ødegaard ‘fouls’ Eriksen in Lead Up to Martinelli’s Opening Goal at Old Trafford – VAR Intervenes and Disallows Legitimate Goal
Picture the scene. Arsenal have won their first 5 games of the Premier League season and have the opportunity to make it 6/6. They can do so in style, travelling up North to attempt to conquer a Manchester United side rejuvenated under new boss Erik Ten Hag.
Just 12 minutes in, Martin Ødegaard cleanly dispossesses Christian Eriksen in the middle of the park as the ball falls to Bukayo Saka, who threads through a perfectly weighted diagonal pass to the on-running Gabriel Martinelli. The Brazilian calmly takes the ball into his stride and finishes past De Gea expertly, putting The Gunners 1-0 up and in the driving seat to make it 6 wins on the bounce in Premier League competition. Arsenal are in dreamland and crucially get the all-important opening goal in what is their first game against a traditional ‘top 4 side’ of the season. Sounds a bit too perfect, doesn’t it?
Well, despite the goal being completely legitimate, the VAR team take it upon themselves to intervene and communicate to on-field referee Paul Tierney that he should take a trip to the pitch-side monitor to review a potential ‘foul’ from Ødegaard in the build-up. So, since his mates told him to, that’s exactly what he goes to do. Tierney then views several video replays and still images of Ødegaard tackling Eriksen in a completely legal way, and despite not noticing a foul in real time (and having an amazing view of the tackle live and deciding not to award United a freekick), he decides to do a complete 360 and reverse the decision, disallowing Arsenal’s legal goal and gifting United a freekick in the middle of the park.
Disgusting officiating, to say the least. Arsenal go on to get done on the counter and lose their first game of the season 3-1, allowing City to gain ground on them and move to just one point behind in the table, hot on their tails. Four months later, in a December review of the season, the PGMOL revealed that this goal was one of 6 ‘clear and obvious’ errors that they had made and admitted that the goal should’ve stood. Thus, proving that VAR had absolutely no reason to intervene and disallow a legitimate goal in such a big game and at such a crucial moment of Arsenal’s toughest test of the season at the time.
2. Caleta-Car Wrestles Jesus to the Ground – Robert Jones says ‘No Penalty’ and VAR Goes Missing
A month and a half after the injustice in Manchester, Arsenal had found themselves 1-0 up at St. Mary’s Stadium thanks to an 11th-minute Granit Xhaka strike. The Gunners were in cruise control and were realistically looking to wrap the game up before the half-time whistle was blown. Later in the half, Gabriel Jesus was clearly and obviously wrestled to the ground by Southampton centre-back Caleta-Car, as the Croatian quite blatantly pulled the Brazilian down with no intention of playing the ball.
However, in quite typical Robert Jones fashion, the English referee decided to completely ignore the incident and proceed with the game, refereeing by his own unexplainable ruleset. No foul, no booking, no penalty, and unsurprisingly – no VAR intervention from his mates at Stockley Park. If the penalty was rightly given, Arsenal likely would’ve found themselves 2-0 up against a disheartened Southampton side struggling to get anything going, and most likely would’ve cruised to a comfortable three points. How inconsistent is it that VAR decided to intervene and call a foul for Ødegaard’s clean tackle at Old Trafford, yet had absolutely 0 intention to send the referee to check the monitor for this incident which should’ve given us a penalty? The boys in Stockley Park must’ve had their anti-vision goggles on for this one.
Unfortunately, we went on to concede in the second half and eventually dropped 2 points to a pretty dismal Southampton side. Former referees Mark Halsey and Keith Hackett both stated post-game that Arsenal should’ve been awarded an obvious penalty, and questioned why VAR was nowhere to be seen. Not only that, but Jesus revealed after the game that referee Robert Jones told him that had he gone down earlier, he probably would’ve awarded the penalty. If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry…
3. Dan Burn tries to UNDRESS Gabriel in Penalty Area – No Penalty and No VAR Check
On January 3rd 2023, Newcastle travelled down South to The Emirates Stadium. It was the first time the two sides had met since The Magpies prevented Arsenal from finishing in the top four in the penultimate game of the previous season, and Arsenal were looking for revenge for that depressing night on Tyneside.
It was clear from the off that Eddie Howe’s men had a gameplan – make this game as horrible to watch as possible, kick the s*** out of the Arsenal players, and have the ball OUT of play for as long as possible. It was a typical timewaste fest, with the away team looking to leave with no more and no less than a point.
After an hour played, neither side had found a breakthrough goal, but Arsenal had a set-piece in a dangerous area, with Bukayo Saka readying himself to whip the ball into the box. Saka stood over the ball and lofted a dangerous cross into the box, which looked like it was destined to meet the head of Gabriel Magalhaes, but Dan Burn had other ideas. The English defender quite overtly got a good hold of Gabriel, anticipated that he was about to get on the end of the cross, and aggressively pulled him back so he couldn’t meet Bukayo’s ball-in. He pulled Gabriel’s shirt so much that he almost ripped it off, yet the referee, once again, did not see this blatant foul. Oh, and I don’t need to tell you that VAR did not even intervene to instruct the referee to review the incident on the pitch-side monitor so that a rightful penalty could be given. Furthermore, what adds insult to injury, is that on the exact gameweek in West London, Chelsea were awarded a penalty for McTominay doing a lot less ‘holding’ of the same nature on Jorginho at Stamford Bridge. The lack of consistency makes these sorts of decisions even more infuriating.
Gary Neville of all people said this after the game: ‘You think about it, the actual sponsorship logo on the front of the shirt is over the shoulder of the player. You’ve nearly pulled the shirt off the back. They are very lucky there Newcastle.’. I mean, when even Gary Neville is on your side, you know you’ve been hard done by.
4. Murphy BLATANTLY Handballs Xhaka’s Dangerous Cross in Injury Time – Madley Again Pretends He Doesn’t See it and VAR Has Another Day Off
If one major refereeing error wasn’t enough, how about two in one game? After not being awarded a penalty for Burn’s questionable undressing of Gabriel, Arsenal also should’ve been awarded ANOTHER penalty in stoppage time after Jacob Murphy blatantly blocked Granit Xhaka’s cross with his hand.
In the dying moments of the game, only one team was pushing for a winner, and I don’t have to tell you which one. Granit Xhaka made his way into the box and smartly beat his man before whipping in a dangerous cross to the awaiting Arsenal forwards queuing up in the penalty box. However, the cross didn’t meet its intended destination, as Newcastle substitute Jacob Murphy blocked the ball from with his (pretty clearly) outstretched arm. The arm was undoubtedly in a completely unnatural position, as Murphy was not jumping to head the ball away, so had absolutely no reason to be doing his best scarecrow impression. The Arsenal players subsequently ran to the referee, praying that he had managed to get at least one of two major decisions right in this big game, but to no avail, as Andy Madley decided to ignore the incident. And to no surprise, so did his friends down at Stockley Park.
Yet again, there was no explanation after the game as to why the penalty wasn’t given, and no explanation as to why Arsenal were stripped of two points in the middle of a tight title battle with juggernauts Manchester City. These incompetent group of individuals once again took zero accountability for their incorrect decisions and had no cojones to come out and explain the reasoning behind their horrible officiating. Once again, they ruined a game, and then left us in the dark as to why they did it. Cowards.
5. Arsenal Antagonist Maupay Throws Himself into Gabriel – No Penalty says David Coote and No VAR Review
A month and a day after the refereeing disasterclass from Madley and his mates, Arsenal travelled up to Merseyside to face an Everton side who were in abysmal form, having lost 7 of their past 8 games.
Admittedly, this was one of Arsenal’s worst performances of the season, and Everton seemingly had the ‘new manager bounce’ that they needed with Sean Dyche at the helm for the first time. In typical Dychey fashion, his side found themselves one-nil up thanks to a James Tarkowski goal, set up by Dwight McNeil. A combination those in Burnley will remember fondly.
As the game was coming to a close, a pretty lethargic Arsenal side were trying their best to push for a late equaliser. Eddie Nketiah took one too many touches in the box and was dispossessed from behind, as the ball rolled its way towards Gabriel Magalhaes on the right-hand corner of the Everton box, who looked like he was setting himself up to strike it goalwards. However, Neil Maupay (still haunting Arsenal all these years later) anticipated Gabriel’s intentions, and threw himself in front of the Brazilian recklessly, sending him flying into Idrissa Gueye. Once again, Maupay doesn’t get anywhere near the ball and pretty clearly has no intention to play the ball cleanly. However, David Coote is the referee in charge of this one. And what does that mean? Well, that the refereeing will be appalling. And it was. He seems to think that there’s nothing wrong with Maupay’s unwarranted challenge, and his mates on VAR of course are on the same naïve wavelength as him. Arsenal miss the chance to salvage an important point as the title race is heating up. More refereeing incompetence interfering with an otherwise honest race for the prized Premier League title.
That’s a total of 9 points so far in this article that the PGMOL potentially cost Arsenal in last season’s title race, and we’re not even done with reviewing their major mistakes yet. I don’t need to remind you that we finished the 2023/24 season on 84 points – just 5 points behind Manchester City. Don’t let anybody tell you that these refereeing mistakes don’t matter and eventually ‘even themselves out’. In another season with a higher standard of officiating, who knows what the table would’ve looked like after 38 games…
6. Mason ‘FORGETS’ To Do His Job Correctly – Allows Offside Brentford Equaliser in the Middle of Title Race
Now, this one is quite possibly the worst of the lot. And as you’ve probably realised by now, that really is saying something. Back in February, the title race was heating up between Arsenal and Pep Guardiola’s men, and anything less than a win would’ve meant that the club would fall behind Manchester City in the Premier League table for the first time in months. City had 51 points after 23 games played, and Arsenal had 50 points after 21 games played (City had a superior goal difference).
Thomas Frank’s Brentford side visited The Emirates, and were big favourites to be on the losing side of this Saturday lunchtime kick-off on February 11th 2023. 66 minutes in, super-sub Leandro Trossard stuck to the script and put The Gunners ahead with a smart finish from close range, converting Bukayo Saka’s dangerous cross. This left Arsenal 25 minutes away from leapfrogging back ahead of Manchester City and regaining their familiar first-place spot in the table. But no, those on VAR duty had other ideas…
Less than 10 minutes later, Brentford won a freekick in the Arsenal half. Mathias Jensen stepped up to launch a dangerous ball into the Arsenal box, which Brentford managed to keep alive for Ethan Pinnock to head into the path of Christian Norgaard, who hooked the ball across the six-yard box for Ivan Toney to head in. However, there were multiple clear-cut reasons why this goal shouldn’t have stood.
This time, the incident was actually checked by VAR. That should be a good thing, right? Well, not if the officials are not even competent enough to draw lines and check for offside correctly. Ethan Pinnock was in fact offside when the ball was put into the box, clearly standing ahead of Gabriel Magalhaes as the last Arsenal defender. Considering Pinnock quite clearly involves himself in the play by later heading the ball to Norgaard, this is clear-cut reason number one why the goal should’ve been disallowed. However, number two is even more egregious. For some reason, the offside was not checked on Pinnock, so we move to the next player directly involved in the equalising goal – Christian Norgaard. The Dane is also blatantly standing in an offside position when Pinnock makes contact with the ball to head it into his direction before he puts the ball on a plate for Toney to head in. Norgaard wasn’t judged to be offside by the on-field assistant, but it takes just one look at the replays on VAR to see that he is offside and that the goal should subsequently be disallowed. However, Lee Mason, who was in charge of operating the technology for this game, apparently ‘forgot’ to draw the lines to rule Norgaard offside. That’s right – he ‘forgot’ to do his job properly. He ‘forgot’ to carry out his occupation with any sort of decency, proficiency, or competency. Due to this inaptitude, Arsenal ended up dropping two extremely valuable points at home in a must win game.
After the game, Mikel Arteta said this: ‘I just looked back, and it is offside. We’ll probably be given an explanation later in the week but today we haven’t got any. It is too late, the goal was allowed, we dropped two points.’. And guess what? Mikel was right – a few days later the PGMOL made a public apology to the club for Lee Mason forgetting to draw the lines, admitting that the goal should not have stood. Almost as if their meaningless late apology makes up for the points that we lost on that day to Mason and his mates’ idiocy.
It’s akin to a mathematician failing to add up, a 100M sprinter forgetting to run, a basketball player forgetting to shoot, a lifeguard forgetting to swim. It is simply unforgivable. If you do not do your job correctly, especially when the consequences are so high, then you should face severe repercussions. However, this doesn’t seem to apply to the PGMOL. If you even go as far as to publicly criticise them then you will be heavily fined and unjustly banned. At this point, Mikel Arteta and every other Premier League manager are living in a modern-day dictatorship. It is absurd that the beautiful game is run in this manner by these uncriticisable frauds. Arsene Wenger was right – they are ‘untouchable’.
7. Trossard Opener Disallowed by VAR for Ben White ‘Holding’ Danny Ward’s Hand
Two weeks after the shocking refereeing that cost us 2 points vs Brentford, Arsenal had the opportunity to go 5 points clear of Manchester City with a win at The King Power Stadium vs Leicester.
In the first 45, Saka whips in a corner into the Leicester box, which is cleared only as far as Granit Xhaka, who lays the ball back to Leandro Trossard to rifle a thunderous shot into the top right corner from just outside the box. It’s a wonder strike, and Arsenal have found the all-important breakthrough goal in the first half to ease the nerves. However, the goal is checked by VAR, and the on-field decision that the goal is legitimate is for some reason immediately overturned. Craig Pawson has his mates in his ear telling him that Arsenal have done something illegal in the passage of play; Ben White is apparently holding on to Danny Ward’s hand in a manner that is unacceptable. Maybe they weren’t offered this sort of affection growing up, and is why they have this chip on their shoulders to rule this as foul play? Well, the goal is instantly chalked off, to Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal players’ disbelief. If this sort of thing is enough to rule out a goal, then pretty much every single goal from a set-piece should be checked for holding, pushing and impeding in every game. Multiple players have a hold of each other in the box multiple times within the same game. By disallowing this goal, the VAR referees are setting the precedent that this sort of thing must be checked for on every single set piece. This, of course, was not the case after this game, and Arsenal remained pretty much the only big side to be disallowed a goal in this fashion, at a crucial point in the title race.
Again, perhaps naturally, the defective refereeing on display in this game didn’t get spoken about as much as it should have been because Arsenal went on to win the game 1-0. However, that does not mean that inherently inconsistent refereeing like this should be forgotten and given a pass. If that is a clear and obvious foul from Ben White, then why is Soucek grabbing Ramsdale’s shirt and impeding his movement for West Ham’s goal against us last week in the Carabao Cup not a foul? They either all have to be offences, or all have to be allowed. You simply cannot pick and choose when to apply certain rules, and which clubs to give the benefit of the doubt to. The inconsistency is genuinely astounding, and on another day, could have cost us the game.
8. Coote Gives 2 Unjust Yellows to Tomi – But Ayew Makes 2 Worse Offences in SAME GAME and Gets Away with It
Even though we’re still early on in this season’s Premier League campaign, Arsenal have already been on the wrong end of several ludicrous refereeing decisions, potentially altering the outcome of several games. It’s fair to say that the PGMOL started this season in the same farcical fashion as they operated throughout the whole of last season.
It’s Monday Night Football at Selhurst Park. Arsenal find themselves 1-0 up thanks to a Martin Ødegaard spot-kick. Thomas Partey has a throw-in on the left side of the pitch and is reviewing his options. He takes a few seconds before handing the ball over to his teammate Takehiro Tomiyasu to take the throw. It probably literally isn’t even 3 seconds before referee David Coote gets his yellow card out and books Tomi for timewasting. A decision that is completely nonsensical, and reeks of giving in to the home fans’ pressure. Something that the referee is expected to be strong enough not to do. If anybody was to be booked for timewasting it should’ve been Partey, but Clueless Coote thinks it makes sense to give a yellow card to the player who’s literally just been handed the ball. You can’t write this stuff.
Fast forward to later in the game, and Jordan Ayew, who is already on a booking, cynically brings down Bukayo Saka who is bursting forward on a dangerous attack. Despite being a clear second yellow offence, David Coote says it’s nothing more than a freekick. However, several minutes later, Tomiyasu, who has already been wrongfully carded, lightly holds on to Ayew’s shirt before releasing it on the break. This time however, for this much lesser but almost identical instance, Coote cannot wait to get his second yellow card out and book the Japanese international again to send him off. Once again, clearly demonstrating absolutely ZERO consistency in his officiating, to the point that his refereeing can only be described as comical. You just have to laugh at it. It’s almost as if he is doing his best to perform like a corrupt referee. Maybe he wanted to impress the home crowd and get a big cheer out of them? Probably. At this point, these referees are more concerned with approval of certain fanbases than they are with doing their job competently.
Funnily enough, Arsenal cannot even appeal the suspension after the game as it was a red card given through two yellow card offences (another strange rule that the PGMOL have probably made up to save themselves the stick). That means that Arteta loses one of his most dependable defenders for the next Premier League game, which ironically, we end up dropping points in.
9. Kovacic Should See Straight Red, then Second-Yellow – Absurd Refereeing By Michael Oliver and VAR Gang
October 8th, 2023. Arsenal vs Manchester City. The Emirates Stadium. A battle of last season’s top two in the Premier League. A chance for Arsenal to end their awful run of 12 successive PL losses to Guardiola’s men and put a marker down that they mean business again this season. A game that tells us so much about how this season’s title race might pan out. The refereeing MUST be impartial, fair, and void of any serious mistakes.
At 29 minutes on the clock, Matteo Kovacic violently slides with his studs up on Arsenal skipper Martin Ødegaard from behind. The challenge is reckless, dangerous and could have easily ended the Norwegian’s season. It is an ankle-snapper, and literally ticks every single box for a challenge worthy of a red card. Michael Oliver – perhaps the ‘head boy’ of the PGMOL, takes out his yellow card and only books Matteo Kovacic. John Brooks is in charge of VAR on the day and takes a look at the challenge. Despite the replays clearly showing serious foul play, along with the fact that lesser challenges in other recent Prem games (MacAllister vs Bournemouth, Gusto vs Villa, etc.) were awarded red cards, Michael’s mate of course agrees with the on-field decision. Oliver isn’t even sent to the pitch side monitor and the yellow card stands. Arsenal continue playing the game against Manchester City’s 11-men, which should be 10. A third of the game hasn’t even been played, and the English referees are already making major mistakes and potentially influencing the outcome of the biggest game of the Premier League season so far.
Then, to make matters even worse, just a few minutes later, Matteo Kovacic slides through the back of Declan Rice with a late challenge, getting nowhere near the ball. It’s almost a ‘you should’ve sent me off a few minutes ago so I’m going to give you the perfect opportunity to do so now’ challenge. A slight chance at redemption for Michael Oliver, who at this point HAS to send the Croatian off for a second yellow card offence. It’s the most blatant second yellow you’ll see all season. Bear in mind, this is the same referee that sent Gabriel Martinelli off for two softer yellow card offences within the SAME thirty-second passage of play vs Wolves back in the 2021/22 season.
But no, Mr. Oliver, with his air of haughtiness and superiority, crosses his arms and waves off the challenge. According to him and his egotism, he doesn’t have to follow the rules, but is instead allowed to create his own, and awards nothing more than an Arsenal freekick. Those watching around the globe, including even the most Arsenal-despising Tottenham fans, are in disbelief at his incompetency. Arsenal should be a man up for the last hour of the game, and should have already been playing against 10-men 5 minutes ago. This was the perfect chance for him to right his wrong and actually follow the ruleset that he’s meant to be unbiasedly abiding by. It’s a preposterous sequence of decisions from the PGMOL Poster Boy.
Funnily enough, most likely due to the fact that we went on to win the game, the PGMOL (who had an immediate two-week international break to release a statement) did not even apologise to Arsenal for the horrendous refereeing. No sorry, no admittance of error, no comment, no nothing. In what other world are high-up professionals allowed to be allergic to accountability, and it be okay? It’s like these referees are living in a different world.
10. Referee Sent to Monitor for Saliba Handball When Arm Was in Natural Position – Penalty Conceded Instantly
After the international break, Arsenal were straight back in action in a massive London derby against Chelsea. The Gunners were looking to make it 4 consecutive Premier League victories vs The Blues at Stamford Bridge for the first time in the club’s history.
Around 10 minutes have gone in the game and a ball is whipped into Mykhailo Mudryk of all people, who headers the ball goalwards off of William Saliba’s arm. The effort is going wide, and although Saliba’s arm is outstretched, it is not in an unnatural position considering he is jumping to attempt to header the cross away. It is the sort of occurrence which other sides have not been penalised for this season. For example, no penalty was given against Tottenham when Cristian Romero blocked Garnacho’s goalwards shot (even though he wasn’t jumping and had no reason for his arm extended). Surprise surprise though, in this instance the referee is quickly sent by VAR to check the pitch side monitor and immediately awards Chelsea a penalty.
I’ve lost count of the amount of similar, or even worse handball offences not given in Arsenal’s favour by referees in the last few years. Just look at the aforementioned Jacob Murphy handball in this article. It’s a clear penalty for Arsenal, but the referee isn’t even sent to the pitch side monitor to rewatch the incident and make a decision. These ‘officials’ are not just completely incompetent, they are completely inconsistent. The refereeing in this country is disgusting and really is at an all-time low. There, of course, was no post-game explanation from the PGMOL as to why this was given as a penalty but several other similar handballs are allowed and have been this season. They keep us in the dark, and keep refereeing by however they feel on the day. No consistency, no accountability. It’s the same old rubbish.
11. Guimaraes Elbows Jorginho’s Head from Behind in Clear Red Card Challenge – Attwell Turns a Blind Eye and Isn’t Informed to Check Monitor
In at number 11 and 12 conjunctively, is a review of the multiple farcical decisions or rather lack thereof decisions that took place at St. James’ Park on Saturday evening, which were the catalyst for the writing of this article. I’m sick and tired of these referees ruining the sacred 90 minutes that we get every weekend so often, and this Saturday was the final straw.
During the first half of the game, Jorginho is on the ball and is looking to release a pass to a teammate. Bruno Guimaraes, who quite clearly is looking to leave one in on Arsenal’s number 20, knows that he is not going to be able to get to Jorginho and make a fair challenge before he releases the ball. He sprints towards the Italian with one intention only – to hurt him. A second after Jorginho makes the pass, Bruno shoves into the Italian’s head with his left arm intentionally raised and elbows his skull from behind. It’s a GBH offence on the pavement, and a clear red card on a football pitch. He’s a dirty player and knows exactly what he’s doing. It’s no coincidence that he is the second-most carded player in the league this season. However, Mr. Attwell doesn’t even whistle for a foul, and his boys at Stockley Park don’t inform him of the offence, so he doesn’t even review what is a clear and obvious red card on the pitch side monitor. The game therefore subsequently goes ahead unjustly with 11 vs 11. What was the point in implementing video replays into the game again? Wasn’t it made entirely for occasions like this – when a clear and obvious error has been missed by the incompetent on-field referee?
Perhaps the reason the PGMOL don’t usually explain their decisions is because it’s a way for them to sound even more stupid than they already make themselves look. Have a read of their explanation after the game as to why Bruno wasn’t sent off:
PGMOL: ‘He (Bruno) has not used his arm as a weapon. It is not nice but it’s no more than a yellow card.”
Ha. ‘He has not used his arm as a weapon’. Wait, what? So he just used it as an ‘accessory’ when attempting to smash into Jorginho’s head? While his jaw is clenched and you can literally see the malicious intent through his facial expressions? Or by the fact that he kept leaving some in on the Italian multiple times off the ball throughout the game and goading him in the process? Stuart Attwell allowed it to happen though, and allowed the Brazilian to get away with several filthy challenges and off-the-ball nonsenses all game. A referee is meant to have full control of the game, but these PGMOL posh boys couldn’t have less authority if they tried. These referees are like supply teachers trying to manage a class of 50 rebellious and rowdy kids that have no respect for them. They are all inherently weak, and this was further evidenced by the officiating for the match-winning goal, which shouldn’t have stood for several reasons.
12. Gordon’s Winner Should Be Disallowed For at Least 1 of 3 Reasons: The Ball is Out/He is Offside/Joelinton Clearly Pushes Gabriel from Behind – Goal Still Given
The decisive moment in this tight game came in the 64th minute, when Anthony Gordon turned in a loose ball past David Raya into an empty net. However, quite clearly, the whole of the ball is out of play before former Gunner Joe Willock rescues it by the corner flag before putting the ball into the box from which the goal is scored. It looks to the naked eye as if the ball has gone out, but neither Attwell nor the linesman seem to flag for a goal kick. Fine – this can be missed in real-time, so we go to VAR to make the correct decision. As you can see from the video replay and still images, the whole of the ball goes out of play. There is no part of the ball touching the white paint, meaning the goal should have been disallowed and the goal kick should’ve been awarded instead. However, the PGMOL don’t follow rules, as we know, and unfathomably allow the goal to stand. According to their post-match statement, apparently ‘the ball looks out’ but they ‘can’t possibly give it from that angle’. Guess what, lads? If it looks out, then it probably is out… What more evidence do you need? Again, it’s just completely laughable officiating.
But if that wasn’t bad enough, it becomes apparent from the replay of the goal that Joelinton clearly both-handedly pushes over Gabriel Magalhaes so that he can make contact with the ball before it drops to Gordon to turn in. Of course, Attwell missed this in real time too, but at least VAR are checking it to overturn the decision to allow the goal to stand, right? Wrong. The clowns on VAR conclude that it’s not enough of a foul, even though the replays blatantly show Joelinton shoving Gabriel to the ground from behind. The Newcastle midfielder has both hands on his national teammate’s upper back/head, and would not be able to assist Gordon without impeding Gabriel, as the defender would’ve been able to head the ball away from goal. It is telling that even former referee Dermot Gallagher came out on Sky Sports News the day after the game and stated that he would have blown his whistle for a clear foul.
However, the PGMOL claimed that ‘there are two hands on Gabriel’s back, but we canot be sure it’s a push’. What? Well, what is it then? Do you think he’s put both of his hands on him for fun? Is he playing tag? Why else would he forcefully use his hands in that scenario? Common sense and logic don’t apply when you’re dealing with these ‘professionals’, though. Even one of their meaningless apologies admitting their wrongdoing would’ve been less infuriating than reading that nonsense. I’m convinced that even they don’t believe the garbage that comes out of their own accountability-deflecting mouths.
Now, Raya has to take accountability for his poor positioning and all-round weak goalkeeping, while Ben White also has to take accountability for not playing to the whistle and closing down Willock. However, none of that should matter as the goal is clearly illegal for more than one major reason. The third reason is perhaps the least clear-cut of the three – but Anthony Gordon could also very well be offside for the goal. There is no evidence to show that he is level or behind Joelinton when he touches the ball down for him to score. Since Raya is ahead of him, he is out of play in this scenario, meaning Gabriel is the last defender. Noticeably, Joelinton doesn’t even celebrate the goal when the ball goes in. This is most likely because he thinks it won’t stand for any one of the three previous reasons outlined. Take your pick.
However, once again, the PGMOL stated post-game that ‘there is no conclusive evidence of whether Gordon is behind the ball, so stick with the on-field decision.’. So, since we can’t use our millions of pounds worth of technology effectively and draw a line through a player, we’ll just go with the officials on the pitch who can’t be trusted to make a simple decision correctly. Cool, sounds good.
Mikel Arteta had every right to be outraged at the incredulous refereeing on display on Saturday evening, and I for one standby everything he said in his post-match interview regarding the level of officiating this league has to offer. Best league in the world, but the worst refs in the world. Make it make sense.
I genuinely believe that the PGMOL needs a complete overhaul from top to bottom. The unjustifiable patriotism that this league has towards referees of its own nationality is damaging the integrity and quality of the product that we are consuming. English referees have proven themselves time and time again over the last decade to be the least skilled and least competent officials in all of Europe’s top 5 leagues. An effort must be made to bring in the top referees from overseas. The league has the money. Pay to import the best quality individuals at their jobs in the same way that the best teams in this league buy the best footballers from all around the world to do their jobs.
Until then, the biggest games in the best league in the world will continue to be decided by the clowns in refereeing uniforms as opposed to the footballer stars that truly make the Premier League what it is. They are the real difference makers. The real superstars. The real match deciders. Stop allowing these incompetent con-artists ruin the beautiful game. It’s been going on for way too long. We need change.
Some other notable mentions that didn’t make the cut since start of 22/23 season:
- Lyanco headbuts Nketiah at St. Mary’s – no red card given
- Dias kicks out at White at The Etihad in title decider – no red card given
- Martinelli’s opener at Goodison Park ruled out for unexplainable offside angle
- Havertz wins penalty vs United – goes to VAR and is overruled for clear & obvious error despite contact and no clear & obvious error
- Sanchez punches through Jesus – no penalty given to Arsenal for dangerous play despite the fact that Chelsea were awarded much softer penalty through VAR in same game
UberArsenal - Blogging about The Arsenal 
Leave a comment