Arsenal fans have intensified their opposition to VAR, expressing their frustration following a series of contentious decisions in their 1-0 loss to Newcastle on Saturday.
In this encounter, Eddie Howe’s team inflicted the first defeat of the season on the Gunners, with an Anthony Gordon goal in the second half at St James’ Park.
A lengthy VAR review ultimately upheld the goal, dismissing three potential reasons to disallow it, much to the annoyance of Mikel Arteta, who labeled the decision as “completely unacceptable.”
Nevertheless, the match was riddled with controversial moments. One notable incident was a penalty appeal in the first half when Eddie Nketiah seemed to be brought down in the box by Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes.
Arsenal fans on social media firmly believed it was a clear penalty, though the situation did not receive a public review. One supporter vented on a platform, saying, “Eddie is quite literally getting pulled down with the ball right in front of him.”
Another fan remarked, “Sky just ignored this in the first half, not a single replay or comment from either of the commentators and wasn’t touched upon at half time.” A third fan added, “We got robbed. Completely robbed.”
However, some disagreed, with one fan questioning, “Isn’t Nketiah literally dragging the Newcastle player down or am I stupid?” Another noted that neither Nketiah nor any of his teammates appealed for a penalty, emphasizing, “That says it all doesn’t it? No pen.”
After the match, Arteta strongly criticized the match officials, going on an extraordinary rant in which he suggested that the standard of refereeing in the Premier League had never been lower.
He stated, “There’s too much at stake here.”
“We put so much effort [in], it’s so difficult to compete at this level. It’s an absolute disgrace.”
“I feel embarrassed. I’ve been more than 20 years in this country and [the standard of refereeing] is nowhere near the level to describe this as the best league in the world.”
The defeat prevented Arsenal from overtaking their neighbours Tottenham, who remain the only undefeated team in the Premier League. Manchester City’s 6-1 victory over Bournemouth has temporarily placed them at the top of the league, although Tottenham could regain the lead with a win against Chelsea on Monday.
Eddie Nketiah
Edward Nketiah
This season he played in total twice for 19 minutes for Champions League.
Eddie Nketiah didn’t score any goal for Arsenal. He procured no assists. He received no yellow cards and no red cards.
His team is currently 3rd in Champions League. In the last match Arsenal lost 1-0 against Newcastle United.
Arsenal performance and stats
Arsenal is currently 1st in the Champions League with 6 points.
In the last 3 games, it has won twice and lost once. In its last match, Arsenal won 1-2 against Sevilla.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 7 goals and conceding 3.
Arsenal will play the next match in Champions League against Sevilla on Wednesday 8th of November in London. The prediction is Arsenal winning the match.