Missed penalty, Ballard goal mistake, Brobbey high foot - Sunderland vs Arsenal referee review

football.london reviews the big decisions by the officials after Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Manchester United, including a missed red card, that free-kick wall and a potential Gunners penalty.

Arsenal dropped points for the first time since their draw with Manchester City as Sunderland held them to a 2-2 stalemate at the Stadium of Light. Mikel Arteta’s side faced arguably their most impressive opponents of the season and almost found a way to victory.

The late Brian Brobbey goal broke the hearts of those hoping for a vital three points, but instead, some of the controversial refereeing decisions in the game proved costly for the Gunners. Having gone a goal down in the game, two officiating errors might have seen the score reversed in Arsenal’s favour.

Referee Craig Pawson is the man in the spotlight this time. football.london breaks down the key moments from the draw with the Black Cats.

Mikel Merino penalty call

In the opening minutes of the game, a cross from Leandro Trossard was causing plenty of problems for the Sunderland defence. Mikel Merino, attempting to challenge for the ball, leads with his head for the aerial challenge against former Arsenal defender Daniel Ballard.

The Sunderland man, however, leads with his left arm, making a strong connection with the Spaniard’s head well before heading the ball away. Merino collapsed to the floor and required significant treatment, which saw plenty of stoppages added to the first half.

FL review: This is a classic case of should this incident happen anywhere outside the penalty box, a foul is often given. Ballard makes clear, forceful contact with the face of Merino well ahead of winning the ball.

Viktor Gyokeres was not awarded a penalty against Newcastle after Nick Pope was deemed to have “played the ball” before connecting with the Swedish striker. This itself was a very debatable incident at the time, but if this is the application of the law, VAR should intervene here to spot the clear and obvious error the player has made.

FL verdict: Incorrect decision, penalty should have been given.

Martin Zubimendi yellow and free-kick

The irony of this action is that Granit Xhaka arguably fouls Eberechi Eze on the edge of the Sunderland box, tackling from behind and not winning the ball, before the ball falls the way of Wilson Isidor.

Trying to counterattack, Zubimendi’s left foot comes out to win the ball. The Sunderland forward goes down, and Pawson both gives the foul and books Zubimendi for the denial of a breakaway attack.

Sunderland would go and score from the resulting free-kick. No doubt the Gunners should defend much better from the long ball, but they wouldn’t have needed to if the free-kick had not been given.

FL review: Replays show that the Spaniard clearly made a fair challenge, getting a strong foot on the ball at the same time he challenges the player. If the referee deems it a foul, it would rightly be yellow for the context of the challenge in the counterattack game state, but he misses the clear touch Zubimendi makes on the ball while challenging, as he did the foul of Xhaka on Eze before the next action.

FL verdict: Incorrect decision, no free-kick.

High foot on Gabriel for Brobbey goal

Arsenal thought they had pulled off a great comeback, but would rue their missed chances as Brian Brobbey flicked in a 94th-minute equaliser to cost the Gunners two points. The Gunners lost two duels in the melee for the goal, Brobbey flicking in a headed pass of sorts.

He had to get his foot high and above a falling Gabriel who went down holding his face in the aftermath. There appeared little in the way of complaints about the goal.

FL review: Gabriel is seen pulling the shirt of Brobbey considerably as he is challenging for the ball while instead of looking to punch it clear, David Raya gets in a muddle and tries to collect it instead. It’s a calamity of errors at the back and there is not enough to justify ruling that goal out.

FL verdict: Correct decision, goal stands.