Elliott Cuff

Sat 24 April 2021 9:10, UK

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has bemoaned VAR for denying his side a penalty following their loss to Everton on Friday night.

The Gunners were awarded a penalty in the second-half after Richarlison was adjudged to have fouled Dani Ceballos in the box, with referee Jonathan Moss quick to point to the spot.

However VAR later ruled out the spot-kick due to Nicolas Pepe being offside in the build-up, with VAR splitting hairs in its decision deny Arsenal a chance at scoring the opener.

Everton’s win against the Gunners marked their first-ever Premier League win at the Emirates Stadium, while it also saw them end a five-game winless run in the league.

Former Goodison star Arteta however was not pleased with the result, criticising the decision-making of the video assistant referee for denying his team a penalty.

Speaking after the game, as relayed by the Liverpool Echo, Arteta said: “This is building up, enough is enough. Today, to be fair, I’d had enough.

“We’ve had many of them that no one explains. When they explain, they say sorry, yes it was a mistake. But unfortunately it’s affecting our people, it affects our job and, most importantly, our football club.

“When they do [say sorry] it’s behind a telephone. I really like that we can make use of the technology, it’s just that we need consistency and clarity. We want to see their faces and responses.

“We lost the game for different reasons. One for things we can do better and should do better, one that we cannot control.”

In all fairness to Mikel, the penalty not being awarded was justice for Everton.

Admittedly the offside decision was extremely tight and possibly a bit harsh on Arsenal, but how VAR had allowed the penalty to stand before looking at the offside is beyond our comprehension.

Richarlison’s contact with Ceballos was extremely minimal, perhaps even non-existent, and yet the Spaniard went down as though he had been pole-axed by the Brazilian.

Everton were fortunate to beat the Gunners thanks to a howler from goalkeeper Bernd Leno, with no one side really earning three points.

The Toffees couldn’t have complained had they drawn 0-0 with Arsenal, and really Arsenal shouldn’t have had much to complain about either, but certainly Everton didn’t deserve to go behind to such a soft penalty.

VAR has wreaked havoc on the Premier League this season and though the technology has potential it still has some creases that need to be ironed out. However VAR wasn’t to blame for Arsenal’s defeat on Friday, their performance was.

In other Everton news, Ancelotti ready to give greenlight to mega-money swap deal.

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