Former referee Chris Foy has claimed that Brentford’s equalizer against Arsenal should not have stood. The Gunners could only secure a 1-1 draw against Thomas Frank’s Brentford at the Emirates on Saturday.
The game’s biggest talking point came in the 74th minute as Ivan Toney scored a controversial equalizer for the Bees, which ideally should not have stood.
January signing Leandro Trossard gave the Gunners a 1-0 lead in the 66th minute but Brentford came back into the game eight minutes later as Toney scored his 13th league goal of the season.
However, Arsenal were victims of a huge blunder as Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Lee Mason forgot to draw lines to check offside for the Bees’ equalizer.
PGMOL representative Chris Foy explained that a possible foul was looked at after Ivan Toney had put the ball in the net. However, the VAR did not review an offside claim against Christian Norgaard. He said:
“However, in the build-up to the goal, Christian Norgaard — whose cross it is that Toney heads in — is in an offside position.
“However, the truth is that VAR didn’t fully investigate with the lines. The lines, simply, didn’t go down. And that counts as human error. Had the lines gone down the goal would have been disallowed for offside.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta did not hold back at the officials with such a crucial decision going against his side. He said after the game:
“I just looked back and it is offside. Have they explained why it wasn’t allowed? No. It is frustrating but they will probably give an explanation later in the week. Today we haven’t got one. Disappointed because we wanted the three points.”
Following their draw against Brentford, Arsenal now lead the Premier League table by six points over Manchester City. The Gunners still have to play Pep Guardiola’s side twice this season and will host the Cityzens on Wednesday.
Arsenal open talks to sign forward wanted by Chelsea, PSG and Barcelona
Arsenal sporting director Edu has reportedly started talks to sign 17-year-old Brazilian attacking sensation Vitor Roque.
As reported by Goal, the Gunners are chasing the Brazilian sensation who is also being monitored by Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Barcelona.
The 17-year-old currently plies his trade for Brazilian side Atletico Paranaense, who reportedly want his release clause of £53 million to be triggered.
The Cruzeiro academy product has scored seven goals for his current club this season and has been compared to Luis Suarez.
