Tottenham vs Arsenal 'nonsense' to be investigated after Gary Neville left fuming

The North London derby was disrupted by two long delays with Tottenham and Arsenal trying to do battle

Refereeing authorities have been assured of a comprehensive inquiry into the "absolute nonsense" that disrupted the North London derby. The match experienced a six-minute stoppage during the first half, with the second period also delayed due to technical failures affecting the VAR system.

Hawkeye, the technology provider responsible for the 'communication packs' at the centre of the malfunction, left referee Peter Bankes unable to communicate with his assistants, Blake Antrobus and Eddie Smart, as well as the VAR officials at Stockley Park.

The Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) are examining the communications and technological breakdown, which proved deeply embarrassing for the Premier League during a marquee Sunday fixture broadcast globally.

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was left seething by the delays, and said: "This is ridiculous, the whole game cannot stop just because of an IT issue - this is an absolute nonsense, one of the most important games of the season and the players all now have to reset. This is an absolute nonsense.

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"One of the most important games of the season, fantastic start to it, really quick. And we're now two or three minutes stopped, players having to sort of re-warm up again, reset. Absolute shambles.

"They haven't got the common sense or the authority, leadership, to go, 'come on, let's read the room here.'

"There's 62,000 people in this stadium, there's millions watching at home and do they really think it's that important that they can't find some form of communication with the linesman over on the far side?

"Put your flag up if you're going to make a decision or you want to speak to him."

Our colleagues at Mirror Football approached Hawkeye for comment, but the company has not yet responded. Whilst similar incidents have occurred previously, this represented the most prominent and humiliating example to date.

However, on this occasion, the fault did not lie with VAR or the match officials themselves, but with the equipment suppliers. Arsenal would run out 4-1 winners on a comfortable afternoon for Mikel Arteta's side, with Igor Tudor getting a brutal welcome to the Premier League.

Following the match, Sky's correspondent, Gary Cotterill, shared a light-hearted moment with Arteta during the press conference.

He playfully pretended his microphone had failed whilst referencing the coach breakdown - a gesture that drew laughter from the Arsenal boss.

However, Arteta revealed: "Every time we are late out of the dressing room, we get huge fines. So, I said to them who's going to get this fine because that's six, seven, eight, nine minutes? So, yeah, we've got one in the bag now."

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