Arsenal were denied a first-half penalty in Saturday night’s Premier League game against Everton despite scrutiny by VAR, but Jamie Redknapp was not too impressed with the decision.
Kai Havertz felt he should have awarded a penalty against Arsenal and Everton (Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Jamie Redknapp has criticized VAR’s decision not to award Arsenal a penalty when Kai Havertz was brought to the ground by Michael Keane during Saturday night’s game against Everton. The Gunners star outmuscled Toffees defenders in the first half as he chased down a sharp pass from Eberechi Eze.
Keane appeared to step on Havertz’s ankle inside Everton’s box, but referee Andy Madrid ruled there was no foul play in the process and urged both teams to continue play. VAR also intervened to review the footage, but an appeal for a spot-kick was quickly dismissed.
However, former Liverpool star Redknapp was less than impressed with the on-field decisions and support from senior management. He told Sky Sports: ‘Watch his left foot when he passes.
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“That’s clear. Why on earth did it take VAR three seconds to decide there was no penalty?”
“This is a terrible decision. It’s a penalty and it should be overturned.
“You go across to use your body, but when he’s in front you have to stay out of his way. Now it sounds like VAR (is he already down?)
“The fact that it took so little time, we looked at the VAR decision and everyone at home understands that it wasn’t a penalty or a bad call that took five or 10 minutes. The fact that it took three seconds is absolutely disgraceful.”
Daniel Sturridge, who joined Redknapp in analyzing the first hole from the Sky Sports studio, added: “Enough is enough. You can clearly see he kicked. He was trying to guide him, but for me he kicked him.”
The Premier League Match Center also asked X to explain the decision, saying there was “minimal” contact between the two players. The post read: “The referee’s decision to award Arsenal no penalty was confirmed by VAR and contact from Keane to Havertz was determined to be minimal.”
Arsenal go into the match with a seven-point lead over Premier League leaders Manchester City and cannot afford any mistakes as they aim to win their first league title in more than 20 years.
This is considering City have a key match against the Gunners in hand and both teams still have games left to play in April. Thanks to Mikel Arteta and his team, Arsenal secured all three points on the night with a 2-0 win over Everton thanks to late goals from Victor Gokeres and Max Dauman.
Arsenal’s next match is against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday night, with both teams tied 1-1 on aggregate in the round of 16 second leg.
The EFL Cup final between Arsenal and City will be played on Sunday 22 March, with Arsenal facing Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
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