Why No VAR? Blatant Liverpool foul for first Arsenal goal
Good news for Arsenal fans is that you can feel hard done by at losing 3-1 to Liverpool. Salah’s terrific goal, Liverpool’s third, came after a second from the penalty spot following a typical David Luiz moment of stupidity, but the game-changing first strike should not have stood.
Up until Joël Matip headed wickedly past Leno, the game had been tight. Arsenal debutant Nicolas Pépé curled one just over and shot too close to the ‘keeper after his pace and skill had out him clean through. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s attempt from the edge of the area into an unguarded net drifted narrowly wide.
And then that opeening goal – the one scored from a corner in which Joel Matip got more space as Virgil van Dijk fouled his marker, Mattéo Guendouzi. This is how the Guardian saw it:
Replays supported Mattéo Guendouzi’s argument that Liverpool players had in effect held him in a headlock, yet there was no VAR intervention despite the fact that several minutes had been wasted at the preceding corner in checking whether an alleged Nacho Monreal offence was worthy of a red card.
So Gunners fans can feel that improvement has been made. And when three parts of their defence return to full fitness – Bellerin, Tierney and Holding – the future will only be brighter.
Posted: 25th, August 2019 | In: Arsenal, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
