Keith Hackett: Arsenal penalty v Everton was not a ‘clear and obvious error’ under VAR
We’re delighted to welcome former Premier League referee Keith Hackett as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Everton.
Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett claims Arsenal’s penalty versus Everton on Friday night would have stood if offside was not given.
Jonathan Moss was the man with the whistle at the Emirates Stadium as the Blues beat the Gunners 1-0, but the result could have been so very different if his initial decision to award the hosts a penalty was upheld.
He adjudged Richarlison to have fouled Dani Ceballos in the Blues box but the decision was chalked off after a marginal offside was called against Nicolas Pepe in the build-up to the incident.
There appeared to be little contact from the Brazilian on Ceballos, but in an exclusive interview with Goodison News, Hackett says the decision would have stood due to the current rules in place.
“I think it would have stayed with his on-field decision because with how VAR operates, they would want it to be a clear and obvious error,” he said.
“I don’t think VAR would come in with the way they operate at the moment, they would leave that alone and say ‘okay we’ll give him the penalty kick’.”
Imagine…
It would have been an absolute travesty had we conceded a penalty and potentially a goal from such an insignificant touch on Ceballos.
Our number seven barely touched the Spaniard who crumbled to the floor hoping to deceive the referee, and he succeeded in doing so.
Hackett’s probably bang on in his assessment that, with the VAR laws regarding the ‘clear and obvious’ nature of decisions, Moss’ interpretation would not have been overrruled.
But what’s clear and obvious to officials is not the same to most fans and players.
They seem to only intervene if the player has not been touched at all, but Ceballos went down in a heap with barely the faintest of touches so this would have been a cruel injustice if it had stood.
Luckily the VAR came up trumps for us in a different way, with a narrow offside call.
So maybe we should be thanking the system after all. Swings and roundabouts…
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