VAR upheld Newcastle’s goal in their victory over Arsenal, despite controversy surrounding the ball being deemed out of play. Gary Neville has clarified why VAR couldn’t overturn the decision during the contentious match.
The goal, scored by Anthony Gordon in the second half, became a subject of debate as Arsenal believed the ball had crossed the touchline in the build-up. However, VAR determined that the available evidence was “inconclusive” and, as a result, chose not to disallow the goal.
Mikel Arteta expressed his disapproval of VAR’s decision and characterized the goal’s award as a “disgrace.” He even went as far as to say he felt “embarrassed” to be part of the Premier League, and Arsenal submitted a formal complaint to the Premier League regarding VAR.
"There's ambiguity. It's an optical illusion!" 👁️@GNev2 explains the different angles when a ball is sitting on the touchline 🎥🤨 pic.twitter.com/JgIo1xSbWW
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 6, 2023
Neville, addressing the situation on Monday Night Football, provided an explanation for why VAR couldn’t annul the goal. He explained, “We’ve placed the ball onto a position where it is in. That ball, the edge of the yellow ball, is just touching the edge of the line. When you see that from here, you think ‘that’s in.’ But when we come to the different angles that VAR had to look at, VAR cannot make a decision to overturn the on-field decision because there’s ambiguity. It’s an optical illusion! That’s the angle the VAR official was looking at, and I can completely understand why they couldn’t overrule it.”