VAR awarded Newcastle the goal in their win against Arsenal
Gary Neville explained why VAR was unable to overrule the ball being out of play during Newcastle’s controversial win against Arsenal.
Anthony Gordon’s second half goal was the difference between the two sides but his effort was controversial as Arsenal were convinced that the ball had gone out of play in the build up.
Fresh angles had revealed that the ball was out of play in the build up to Gordon’s goal but VAR decided that the evidence was “inconclusive” and couldn’t rule it out.
Mikel Arteta has since condemned VAR and labelled the decision to award the goal as a “disgrace” and that he was “embarrassed” to be a part of the Premier League.Arsenal have also sent a letter to the Premier League complaining about VAR.
Two days on from the fallout, Neville has explained why VAR couldn’t chalk the goal off.
Speaking on Monday Night Football, he said: “We’ve placed the ball onto a position where it is in.
“That ball, the edge of the yellow ball, is just touching the edge of the line.
“When you see that from here toy think ‘that’s in’ but when we come to the different angles that VAR had to look at, VAR cannot make a decision to overturn the on field decision because there’s ambiguity. It’s an optical illusion!
“That’s the angle the VAR official was looking at and I can completely understand why they couldn’t overrule it.”
Related links:
- Fans agree Premier League refereeing is currently ‘the worst it’s ever been’
- Every word of Mikel Arteta’s furious VAR rant after Arsenal’s defeat at Newcastle United
- New technology reveals whether the ball went out of play before Newcastle’s winner vs Arsenal
