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Manchester United suffered a painful defeat at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, as two stoppage-time goals handed Arsenal a controversial 3-1 victory.
Marcus Rashford gave United the lead midway through the first half but a quickfire response from Martin Odegaard drew the home side level before Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus won the game in stoppage time.
However, goals only tell half the story in what was an incident-packed afternoon in the capital.
Erik ten Hag was left perplexed by some of the decisions that went against his side and the United boss aired his frustrations after the game.
As reported by The Mirror, Ten Hag cited three key calls that he believed shaped the result and it started with the VAR’s decision to rule out Alejandro Garnacho’s 88th minute strike, which would have surely won the game for United.
“”It’s not offside. [It’s the] Wrong angle,” said Ten Hag, speaking to the Sky Sports after the game.
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean admitted he could sympathise with the United boss but backed the technology used by VAR and said the right call was made.
“At first glance, I thought it was offside. You can’t fault the technology, they put the lines in the right place.
“I understand where the manager is coming from because the angle isn’t ideal, but we have the the technology in the hub to put the lines in the right position,” said Dean.
Ten Hag then spoke about the two fouls that he felt United were denied which would have granted them a penalty and ruled out Declan Rice’s defected 96th minute winner.
Rasmus Hojlund went down after a tussle with Gabriel in the Arsenal penalty box before the same player appeared to hold back Jonny Evans as he attempted to close down Rice’s winner.
“It was then a penalty on (Rasmus) Hojlund and then we concede a goal that’s a foul on Jonny Evans. It’s so clear and obvious,” said the boss.
Dean unsurprisingly backed Anthony Taylor regarding the potential penalty, saying it was good defending by the Arsenal centre-back.
“I don’t think it is (a penalty). It is good strong defending. They have both tussled for it. Hojlund has got hold of his arm and pulled him down,” claimed Dean.
Bukayo Saka was also lucky to escape further sanction for a studs up challenge on Bruno Fernandes in the first half which, despite not being mentioned by the United boss, would have impacted the game.
However, despite not getting the rub of the green with decisions on the day, United will be frustrated they didn’t hold on for a point which would have represented a decent outcome after a much-improved display, particularly in the second half.
