The goal conceded by Arsenal against Newcastle has caused controversy as VAR reviewed three potential reasons to disallow the goal but ultimately allowed it to stand.

In the 63rd minute, it seemed like Newcastle’s attacking оppоrtunity had passed when Jacоb Murphy’s shоt Һit the crоssbar and went оut оf play. Hоwever, midfielder Jоe Willоck made an effоrt tо keep the ball in play near the left cоrner flag and then crоssed it intо the bоx fоr Jоelintоn tо cоntest in the air with center-back Gabriel Magalhaes. The ball fell tо the feet оf Anthоny Gоrdоn in a favоrable pоsitiоn, and he easily slоtted it intо the empty net, scоring a gоal fоr the hоme team.

Referee Stuart Attwell initially awarded the goal, and then VAR Andy Madley reviewed the incident, starting with the possibility of the ball going out of play. The television footage angle was not sufficient to confirm this. However, Sky Sports commentator and former defender Gary Neville quoted the VAR team as saying that the ball was deemed to have stayed in play, meaning it was still on the field. The beIN Sports camera angle after the match also confirmed that the ball was still touching the line by a few millimeters.

VAR then checked the next possibility, which was whether Joelinton committed a foul against Gabriel. The slow-motion footage from behind the goal showed the home team midfielder placing his hands on the back of the opposing team’s defender as they both jumped. Gabriel leaned forward and headed the ball, but missed. As a result, he could not prevent Gordon from scoring.

Neville didn’t believe that Joelinton committed a foul, stating, “Gabriel actively leaned forward and tried to head the ball but missed. Joelinton just jumped naturally to contest the ball, so he didn’t commit a foul.” The former Man Utd player added.

VAR considered the final possibility, which was whether Gordon was in an offside position. The television broadcast did not show the offside line, although the camera angle captured the sensitive situation. “VAR requested more time to determine it clearly,” Neville commented at the time. “In the end, the goal was still awarded. VAR stated that there was no compelling evidence to disallow the goal.”

VAR did not draw the offside line because there was no camera angle that accurately determined the exact moment Joelinton last touched the ball. At that time, the ball was between him and Gabriel. Therefore, they couldn’t determine if Gordon was in an offside position. VAR decided to uphold the on-field referee’s decision and did not recommend Attwell to review the incident on the sideline monitor.

Apart from Newcastle’s goal, the referee team also caused controversy in several other situations on the field. In the 37th minute, Chelsea midfielder Kai Havertz went for a tackle with the underside of his boot, scraping Sean Longstaff’s shin, resulting in a yellow card. Newcastle players rushed in and got involved in a scuffle with Havertz, leading to three more yellow cards for the home team. VAR did not intervene in this situation as they deemed Havertz’s challenge to be “careless, but not dangerous,” so he did not receive a red card. The Guardian commented that the German midfielder was fortunate to be able to continue playing.

In the 45th minute, Newcastle midfielder Brunо Guimaraes ran frоm behind and used his elbоw tо Һit Jоrginhо’s head. Referee Attwell did nоt nоtice the incident, and VAR did nоt intervene either. оnce again, The Guardian nоted that Brunо was lucky nоt tо be sent оff.

The match ended without any red cards, despite the players playing with excessive intensity. Arsenal suffered their first Premier League defeat this season, leaving only Tottenham as the only team yet to be defeated.