Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel felt West Ham were desperately unlucky to be denied a late equaliser of their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, insisting the choice was ‘so unsuitable on so many levels’.
The relegation-threatened Irons appeared to have cancelled out Leandro Trossard’s earlier effort as Callum Wilson struck through a crowd of bodies in a moment of high-drama and tension on the death.
But following a lengthy VAR check, which dragged on for over five minutes, it was ruled that West Ham substitute Pablo had fouled David Raya within the build-up, with replays showing the Portuguese put an arm across the Arsenal goalkeeper on the London Stadium.
The Gunners’ away end could breathe a collective sigh of relief as referee Chris Kavanagh eventually confirmed that the strike had been disallowed and Mikel Arteta’s men held firm to revive their five-point advantage over Manchester City on the summit.
West Ham, meanwhile, remain stranded within the relegation zone, one point adrift of Spurs, who welcome Leeds to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday night.
Facing the media shortly after the ultimate whistle, Arteta applauded the refereeing on show within the derby, claiming Kavanagh and his team were ‘very brave’ to chalk off Wilson’s last-gasp goal.
‘Today I even have to congratulate them [the officials]. You would like quite a lot of courage and bravado to face out and make it possible to the referee to have a have a look at the motion,’ the Arsenal head coach said.
‘If you see the image, there is no such thing as a query that it’s a transparent foul. They were very brave.
‘The motion deserved that. In my view, it is rather clear. They’re the foundations and we ask for consistency.’
Addressing West Ham’s disallowed goal within the Sky Sports studio, Jamie Redknapp, Ian Wright and Roy Keane were all in agreement that the proper decision was made.
‘Oh yeah, absolutely [they got away with one],’ ex-England midfielder Redknapp said of Arsenal’s let-off.
‘The relief for the fanbase and the manager and the players… because for that moment in time, when the ball goes in your net, Declan Rice is attempting to unravel the whole lot that’s happening.
‘But obviously Pablo has his arm on the goalkeeper and, as an Arsenal player, you’re just praying that they’ll see that.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen more holding in my life! To unravel that moment, it was like watching the Super Bowl, everyone was grabbing on for dear life. It was chaos.’
Arsenal icon Wright chimed in: ‘When that goes in, the very first thing you’re considering is, “Please let something have happened”, because when Wilson hits that you simply’re considering, hoping something has gone unsuitable there.
‘Obviously you look back at it and his arm is across him. It was a straightforward one to provide in such a tense moment.
‘Every little thing flashed in front of me! Not great stuff. You’re considering we might need blown it then.’
Former Manchester United captain Keane got here to the identical conclusion as his fellow pundits, while criticising Pablo for giving VAR a chance to disallow the goal.
‘VAR are going to examine the whole lot… don’t put your hands on the goalkeeper! Definitely don’t leave them on for 3 or 4 seconds,’ he explained.
‘Obviously it was madness and there’s a great deal of other fouls, there’s all sorts occurring, but since the goalkeeper has such an enormous part to play, I believe it’s a foul.
‘He must know they’re going to examine VAR, he’s pulling his jersey. There’s all sorts occurring. You talk in regards to the discipline… don’t give a foul away.’
Nonetheless, Keane’s former United team-mate Schmeichel took an altogether different view, blasting the decision given the quantity of ‘doubt’ indicated by the length of the VAR check.
‘What really makes me indignant is that Arsenal would never be top of the league if that’s a free-kick,’ the Dane said on Viaplay’s post-match coverage.
‘That’s how they’ve scored so many goals, by blocking people, holding people, doing all types of things.
‘After which we get up to now, it takes VAR five minutes, Darren England the VAR, it takes five minutes.
‘He starts it all over again and starts it all over again and again… that in itself puts a lot doubt into that call that it can’t be a free-kick.
‘I believe it’s so unsuitable. I just don’t understand why swiftly that’s a free-kick, since it’s not been for any teams all the way in which throughout the season.
‘All this, it’s just crazy. And that call today, it’s just so unsuitable on so many levels.’
Was the proper decision made?
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