Arsenal handed new penalty VAR verdict as Premier League told mistake made

Arsenal extended their lead at the league summit with a victory over Fulham on Saturday evening – and one former Premier League midfielder believes they should have been awarded a penalty

Leandro Trossard's second-half goal was enough for Arsenal to overcome Fulham on Saturday evening. The Gunners extended their lead at the league summit to three points after Trossard scored from a corner shortly before the hour mark at Craven Cottage.

But just before the forward's opener, Bukayo Saka looked to have earned his side a penalty when he was upended on the corner of the area by substitute Kevin. Referee Anthony Taylor had no hesitation in pointing to the spot but was soon sent over to the pitchside monitor to review the incident before overruling his decision.

And former Premier League midfielder Steve Sidwell believes Taylor was wrong to change his mind and Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty.

“When I first saw it, I said penalty,” he told Sky Sports. “I was surprised that it wasn’t kept as ‘given’, because where VAR’s gone so far and where football has gone, it’s been so clinical, it’s been very much black or white, no grey areas.

“We can clearly see here, there is contact knee on knee on the player before Kevin then gets to the ball. In my opinion, it should have been a penalty.”

While Jamie Redknapp agreed that the decision didn’t meet the threshold for a VAR overturn. He said: “If we take it the other way, and the referee doesn’t give it, VAR would have looked at it but I don’t think they would have given it.

“But like Steve says, is it enough to intervene, is it a clear and obvious error? No, I don’t think so. And that’s where the disappointment will be for Bukayo.”

Speaking about the incident post-match, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said: “I was getting animated because it was taking so long.

“I asked Anthony ‘why it was taking so long’. It was nothing to do with the process, it was just that the screen wasn’t working.

“It probably wasn’t a penalty so they made the right decision in the end, and I was just animated because of the process.”

On the win, Arteta added: “The recent history wasn’t in our favour and we wanted to change that, like we did against Newcastle and West Ham at home,.

“And this is another step to having that mindset and that ability to win these kind of matches against a really good opposition, and a really difficult place to come.

“When the context is 0-0, and the game gets longer and longer it becomes more difficult, but we showed a lot of maturity. We kept knocking on the door in various ways, and in the end we found a way, with the set-piece to do it but we deserved it.”