VAR criticized after Arsenal's loss

Famous MC Piers Morgan and many fans were angry about VAR recognizing the goal that helped Newcastle beat Arsenal 1-0 in round 11 of the Premier League.

After Anthony Gordon scored against Arsenal in the 64th minute of the match at St James' Park, VAR stepped in, checking for four minutes with three possible goals. First were whether Joe Willock had played the ball out of play before passing it in, whether Joelinton had brought down Gabriel and whether Gordon was offside when he scored. Ultimately, the goal was awarded to Newcastle.

VAR checked three situations before deciding to award the goal to Newcastle. First was the possibility that Willock was off the pitch...

... then Joelinton's push from behind...

and finally Gordon's offside ability. Screenshot — and finally Gordon's offside ability. *Screenshot*

On social network X, journalist Piers Morgan - who conducted Cristiano Ronaldo's controversial interview - criticized the VAR team. "So we just saw the ball go out of play, then Gabriel was fouled, then clearly offside. But VAR still recognized the goal for Newcastle. How pathetic," he wrote.

Under this post, many fans agreed with Morgan's point of view. "This is a shocking decision," one fan expressed.

"I give up. The refereeing gets worse every week. It's a shame," another commented.

Chris Waddle, who played for Newcastle from 1980 to 1985, was also surprised by the VAR decision. "I think VAR will take a long time because there are so many things going on in that situation," he commented live on BBC Radio 5 Live : "The ball looked to have gone out of play and Joelinton pushed."

When the goal was awarded, Waddle continued: "It's great that there was a goal, but how could VAR award it? There wasn't much to see at the start of the game, and now there is."

Contrary to criticism, commenting live on Sky Sports , former Man Utd defender Gary Neville quoted the VAR team as saying that the ball was still in the field when Willock tried to save the ball, and at the same time said that the big mistake belonged to Arsenal's defense when goalkeeper David Raya misjudged the landing point, and Gabriel actively bent down, tried to head the ball but missed, so Joelington could not be accused of a foul.

As for Gordon's offside, the former England defender commented at the time: "VAR asked for more time to determine. In the end, the goal was recognized. VAR said there was no convincing evidence for them to cancel the goal."

Similarly, former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher said Joelinton did not foul Gabriel, the offside situation was difficult to determine and the biggest issue was whether the ball had gone out of bounds. But the beIN Sports camera angle showed the ball was still a few millimetres over the line.

VAR also had two other controversial decisions in the first half, when it did not send off Kai Havertz for a dangerous two-footed tackle on Sean Longstaff and Bruno Guimaraes for a cold-blooded tackle on Jorginho.

VAR's controversial decision to award Gordon's strike handed the Gunners their first Premier League defeat of the season, after seven wins and three draws. Arsenal also failed to score for the first time in their 17th game in all competitions this season. Meanwhile, Newcastle have won four consecutive games at St James' Park without conceding a goal for the first time since April 2012.

Hong Duy

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