The Premier League faced yet another instance requiring a detailed justification for the decision made by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), Newspremises understands.
This incident occurred during the match between Anthony Gordon’s team and Arsenal on November 4, where Gordon’s goal became a point of contention.
The VAR took an extensive four minutes to meticulously review three key phases of play before confirming the validity of the goal.
This ruling ultimately proved pivotal, significantly impacting the outcome of the match, resulting in Mikel Arteta’s team suffering their first defeat of the season.
The controversy emerged in the 64th minute when Joe Willock delivered a cross, prompting questions as to whether the ball had crossed the line earlier.
Further scrutiny involved assessing whether Joelinton handled the ball before passing it to Gordon and potentially fouling Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes.
The final inquiry revolved around the possibility of Gordon being in an offside position.
Despite the thorough scrutiny, the decision ultimately favored Newcastle United, as center referee Stuart Attwell authorized the goal.
No conclusive evidence
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has lifted the lid on why the VAR took such a decision.
“The whole of the ball has to be over the whole of the line. You can look at it from that angle, and it is impossible to tell,” he told the league’s website.
Gallagher went on to explain in cases of inconclusive angles, the benefit of the doubt is often given to the team that had the ball at that time since there is ‘no evidence to say the ball is out of play.’
“We see it with corners where it looks over the circumference, but the ball overhangs, so they are allowed to play. I think that might be the problem with this, that they can’t be sure that some of that ball isn’t overhanging the line.”
