“I feel sick.”
Mikel Arteta made no attempt to hide his displeasure with the VAR officials following Arsenal’s Saturday night 1-0 loss to Newcastle United. The demoralized manager took his rage from the post-game press conference into the flash interview that followed the final whistle, fuming that it was “unacceptable,” “embarrassing,” and “a disgrace” to allow Anthony Gordon’s goal to stand.
Naturally, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe had a different opinion. “It looked a good goal to me.”
This is an explanation of the uncertainty that turned Arteta’s stomach and why the match authorities agreed with Newcastle’s manager.
Why was Anthony Gordon’s goal for Newcastle versus Arsenal allowed to stand?
"How much does that goal mean to Anthony Gordon?" 🔥
A long VAR check but Newcastle lead! ⚫⚪ pic.twitter.com/kEZoPkMMtx
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 4, 2023
The sole objective of a fierce game played in the first cold snap of November has three separate stages. Let’s go cautiously.
Was the ball still in play?
EXCLUSIVE!!!
beINSPORTS can reveal that the ball was IN for Newcastle's goal, but @richardajkeys and Andy Gray believe it was both a foul on Gabriel and handball by Joelinton.#beINPL #NEWARS #AFC #NUFC pic.twitter.com/Li70v2s3VM
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) November 4, 2023
In the sixty-third minute, Arsenal narrowly held off Newcastle’s initial onslaught of assault, but former Gunner Joe Willock persisted in his attack, haring over to the byline where he was deemed to have maintained the ball in play while deftly hurdling the corner flag.
In response to several obvious blind spots that were discovered during the offside rulings made during the previous season, the Premier League installed four more cameras to each top-tier stadium during the summer. Still, there weren’t enough electronic eyes in St. James’ Park to say with certainty if the ball had crossed the line in its entirety.
Green grass could be seen between the ball and the white line in a few freeze frames from the game. However, in this case, the ball is still deemed to be inside the pitch’s boundaries even if it is partially hanging over the line; the decision is not based on a point of touch. The recent Men’s World Cup match between Spain and Japan brought this particular facet of Law 9 to light.
While beIN Sports may argue that they had unambiguous evidence that the ball did not travel completely outside of the white rectangle, VAR was forced to uphold the on-field ruling since the Stockley Park officials were not given a clear aerial photo of the incident.
Was Gabriel fouled by Joelinton?
Similar to contentious issues such as Brexit, Marmite, or Arsenal’s away uniform, the competition between Joelinton and Gabriel at the back post is intense.
There’s little doubt that the Brazilian player for Newcastle placed both hands on Gabriel’s back just seconds after Howe had moved him into the front line. There is a great deal of disagreement over whether there was sufficient force to qualify as a foul (a foul according to Law 12 must be “careless, reckless, or excessive”).
David Raya, the goalkeeper for Arsenal, took a dim view on the touch despite the fact that he unconvincingly flapped underneath Willock’s cross despite aerial claims being largely regarded as one of his strongest skills. “After going to the dressing room, looking back at the goal, it’s a big foul on Gabi,” Raya said. “He’s pushing him with two hands on his back when he’s about to clear the ball.”
Again, club allegiances are difficult to ignore. Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown concurred on BBC’s Match of the Day, but Gary Neville insisted there was no foul. During his live commentary on Sky Sports, Neville concluded without delay that “Gabriel might be whining about a push in the back, but there’s nothing in that for me.”
It was also questioned if Joelinton handled the ball while he was shoving Gabriel. Because the Brazilian wasn’t the one who banged the ball into the net, raising the question of intent, he couldn’t truly be accused of purposefully contacting the ball with his fist or enlarging his body. VAR then moved on to address one last issue.
Anthony Gordon—was he offside?
Gordon CLEARLY ahead of Raya. Not offside. Make it make sense. pic.twitter.com/PdlGB9h7Kz
— TheEgyptianKing (@ElnenyXpress) November 4, 2023
In an effort to make sure everyone had read the entire rulebook, VAR examined a potential offside against Gordon.
In an attempt to cut off Willock’s delivery, Raya erred in front of Gordon and, more importantly, his colleague Gabriel. A player must either be behind the ball or have two or more opponents in close proximity to the opposition’s goal in order to be considered onside. Gordon is seen to be between Raya and Gabriel in the frozen VAR image, but once more, a lack of camera angles casts doubt on the entire decision-making process.
Joelinton had not touched the ball since Saturday, therefore it was impossible to determine when to freeze the picture using the configuration that VAR had access to. Furthermore, the ball was completely hidden, making it impossible for the authorities to determine Gordon’s position in regard to the ball. Once more, VAR was compelled to maintain the on-pitch ruling due to a lack of convincing evidence.
In September, Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur was controversially disallowed, raising issues about why the Premier League does not use semi-automated offsides. This device puts a sensor in the ball and uses 12 specially designed cameras to collect 29 data points on a player’s body 50 times per second. Both the Champions League and the World Cup make use of technology.
While it’s hard to say for sure that the more advanced system would have resulted in a different outcome at St. James’ Park, it would have provided the VAR officials with additional information.