Arsenal have been on the wrong side of a number of officiating decisions throughout the season so far as they continue their Premier League title challenge. The draw against Brentford at the weekend left Mikel Arteta, his players and Gunners fans in a fume after VAR official Lee Mason forgot to check Christian Norgaard’s position in the build-up to Ivan Toney’s equaliser that should not have stood.
It was just one of many controversial VAR errors made by officials in the Premier League over the weekend after Chelsea saw a penalty not given despite a seemingly blatant handball from Tomas Soucek. Brighton were another team to be unfortunate as they missed out on a goal with Pervis Estupinan being deemed to be offside, despite VAR official John Brooks applying the offside lines to the wrong Crystal Palace defender.
Brooks was due to take to be on VAR duties for the huge title clash between Arsenal and Manchester City and tonight’s Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton before being removed from both of the games following his error at the weekend. The decisions that have gone against Arsenal could prove costly in the title race with City now just three points behind the Gunners, having the chance to move above them in the table on goal difference if they win at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.
