Gary Neville made that point when VAR reviewed Callum Wilson’s dramatic 95th-minute goal in Sunday’s penalty shootout between Arsenal and West Ham.
“The biggest moment in VAR history in the Premier League,” he described it on commentary for Sky Sports. And the heated debate that followed the decision to disallow what would have been an equalizer at the London Stadium will continue to rage for some time as all parties come to terms with the huge impact it has had on both the title race and the relegation battle.
David Raya was adjudged to have been fouled in West Ham’s final corner, resulting in Wilson firing a shot past Arsenal’s final defensive line. West Ham appeared to be on the verge of filing a formal complaint with PGMOL after the VAR result took more than four minutes to arrive.
Some experts accepted this decision, while others debated it. We asked Mirror Football Team for their verdict on a decision that could solve problems at both ends of the Premier League…
read more: West Ham to publicly complain over Arsenal controversy after late goal disallowed by VARread more: VAR checked three incidents before ruling out West Ham goal in chaotic Arsenal ending
Andy Dunn
First of all, who came up with the “clear and unambiguous” provision? Clear? clear? they are the same thing. But it’s entirely appropriate that this phrase is unnecessarily long. The whole process becomes unnecessarily long.
When Chris Kavanagh first conceded Callum Wilson’s goal, he made no obvious mistake. If it had been a clear mistake, the VAR team would have had much less time to send Kavanagh to the pitchside monitor than the four minutes. It may have been a borderline mistake for Kavanagh not to initially penalize Pablo for his foul on David Raya, but if it wasn’t clear to VAR officials after 90 seconds, the on-field call should have stood.
VAR is here to stay. In fact, the range could be even wider, which is a scary thought. But the only thing that can be introduced to bring some sanity to the proceedings is a time limit. It could be the 90 seconds I just suggested, or it could be a minute. Whatever it is, if the error is not obvious enough to be immediately recognized, it should be ignored.
john cross
Pablo was seen holding David Raya’s arm (Image: (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images))
That was absolutely the right decision. And it will surely go down as the biggest VAR decision in Premier League history, as it affected both ends of the table.
It could be Arsenal’s title-clinching moment. For West Ham, defeat could mean elimination. Yes, there were a lot of 1.6 dozen left, pushing in advance and grappling in the corners as usual.
However, the decision came down to Pablo’s arm crossing David Raya. It’s a clear foul. The authorities made the right decision, so why did it take so long? 17 views, review time 4 minutes 13 seconds. It’s a mystery to me because the foul is so obvious. And it affects the discussion…well, if it’s that clear and obvious. That’s fair. This obscures the question of whether the authorities made the right decision.
It shouldn’t take that long. Mikel Arteta was grateful. Nuno Espirito Santo was respectful. Raya was great all season, but he boxed off. It was a good call by VAR.
james whaling
It was definitely a foul. They reached the right decision. And that’s what Howard Webb will tell Michael Owen on his TV show in the coming weeks. But this is just the latest example of football moving away from what we all fell in love with. In any case, spontaneity in soccer has been lost at the top level.
Rewind a few years and that goal has been achieved and no one says a word about it. Three or four other scuffles occurred while David Raya was in custody. It happens. Instead, we now have a couple of guys in a truck to forensically examine every case and try to take the joy out of the people in the stands. Shit.
The young West Ham fans who lost their minds when Callum Wilson lashed out should tell their friends that at school today. They were still excited about what they saw. Instead, they are debating whether VAR was right to rule that a clear mistake had been made.
Nonsense. Put it in the jar.
Felix Keith
West Ham players confront referee Chris Kavanagh after a late goal against Arsenal was ruled out by VAR (Image: Mark Atkins)
Two things can be true at the same time: you have reached the right decision. And being in charge of set pieces is a mess.
David Raya is fouled by Pablo. It became clear after a few replays. Ultimately, Chris Kavanaugh got there. Sure, the nearly five minute delay was too much and probably unbearable for fans of both clubs, but for me it wouldn’t have been any other way.
The raucous debate over Arsenal’s use of the “dark arts” on set-pieces this season is irrelevant here. Yes, they got away with some things during the campaign, but that doesn’t suddenly justify this thing. Two wrongs do not make a right. As Darren Kang explained on Match of the Day, referees must commit fouls that directly affect the play. The various holding offenses by Arsenal’s defenders were not. Pablo hugged Raya.
It’s a shame that one of the most important moments of the Premier League season came down to VAR. But now that we have embraced technology, sadly there is no going back. Complete abolition will not happen. The least we can do is reward them accordingly when they win under great pressure.
Dan Marsh
What perplexes me most about incidents like this is the timing. Why did it take Darren England and Chris Kavanagh nearly five minutes to make a decision? It’s clear that Pablo is holding onto David Raya’s arm. This is not actually on as it prevents Arsenal’s goalkeeper from catching the ball.
General antics at set-pieces have become a major problem for the authorities. You could probably give away a foul on just about every corner across the country on game day. It’s more WWE than Premier League in the penalty box.
Football always stirs up different emotions and perspectives, and some people may disagree. For the record, I would argue that goalies these days are a very overprotective breed. But what’s interesting is that every time a case like this is discussed, almost everyone says the same thing. That means getting rid of VAR. Why do we continue to endure it? Please give me days to discuss human error after the big referee’s decision in this case.
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