The Independent Key Match Incidents panel of the Premier League have ruled in favour of referee Stuart Attwell and the VAR officials’ decision to award Newcastle United’s winning goal against Arsenal on Saturday.
ESPN reports that the panel, however, noted that the officials missed two red cards.
The panel which consists of five members, three former players and/or coaches, a member from the Premier League and PGMOL each was established at the beginning of 2022/23 to ensure independent assessments of decisions,
During the post-match interview, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was left fuming over Anthony Gordon’s winning goal which he believed shouldn’t have been allowed to stand following three separate VAR checks.
VAR reviewed the ball being out of play, a foul on Gabriel by Joelinton and offside against the goalscorer. On all three checks the VAR, Andy Madley, could not find conclusive evidence of an offence.
The panel’s findings revealed that “although Joelinton does have his hands on Gabriel, there isn’t enough to award a foul as Gabriel had made an action to play the ball before any contact.”
However, the panel unanimously agreed that the VAR missed two red cards.
First, Kai Havertz should have been sent off for Arsenal in the 36th minute for his challenge on Sean Longstaff,
Second, Bruno Guimarães’ arm to the head of Arsenal’s Jorginho in the 45th minute was also a missed red card.
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