Arsenal fans were left bemoaning their fortunes at the hands of VAR in Wednesday’s clash with Manchester City, in which they went 3-0 down before the hour mark on the way to a 4-1 defeat.
Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring with a brilliantly taken strike from the edge of the box in the seventh minute of the game, following a deft assist from Erling Haaland.
A lengthy VAR check eventually awarded John Stones his side’s second of the night, having initially been flagged offside before replays in fact showed him to be behind the last man.
On the cusp of half-time the game saw another flashpoint, with Ruben Dias shown a yellow despite appearing to kick out at Arsenal defender Ben White, with the video officials deciding the foul need not be upgraded to a sending off.
The Gunners have been on the receiving end of disputed decisions earlier in the season, although both events were given heavy attention by the officials in Wednesday night’s thumping win for the hosts.
Arsenal fans on Twitter argued that John Stones’ header should have been chalked off for offside
Stones was ruled onside by virtue of being behind Ben White’s outstretched boot in the first half
White was also on the receiving end of a perceived kick out from Man City defender Ruben Dias
One fan wrote: ‘Never offside and a kick out completely overlooked. I hate this game man.’
Another added: ‘Absolutely disgusting, never offside. Dias should also be off the pitch.’
A third claimed of Stones’ header: ‘It’s literally offside. Why is VAR against us? This deserves to be overturned.’
A fourth Gunners fan said: ‘VAR is always against us.’
One fan was left bemused by the Stones goal, admitting: ‘Never seen a goal look so far offside but then so far inside at the same time I’m baffled!’
A sixth viewer questioned the positioning of the VAR cameras, asking: ‘Why are VAR cameras for offside never in line with the defence, always at some mad angle, feels like the cameras are too close to the corner flag. Must make it hard to draw the lines properly.
‘I’ll caveat that by saying we should be 5-0 down.’
A seventh remained adamant that Stones’ shoulder was in an offside position: ‘Could have been, but wasn’t. They showed the offsides from an angle, never gave us a a good look from the right angle. His shoulder was offside.’
Arsenal fans were left incensed by VAR suggesting John Stones’ header came from an offside position and Ruben Dias should have been shown a red card
Erling Haaland scored a record-breaking 33rd goal to break the record for goals in a 38-game season
And an eighth supporter saw the funnier side, suggesting that the size of Ben White’s ‘foot’ could explain the decision, writing: ‘The VAR offside lines are never accurate … Ben White must have the longest foot on the planet.’
Things went from bad to worse soon after the break at the Etihad, with De Bruyne doubling his tally in the 54th minute to put City into an unassailable position.
Pep Guardiola’s side were dominant on the night and deserving of their ascendancy, and put themselves firmly in the driving seat in the title race. With the win, City now sit two points behind Arsenal with two games in hand still to play.
Rob Holding pulled a consolation back for the visitors in the 86th minutes, but it was not enough with Erling Haaland breaking the all-time goal scoring record for a 38-game season with a 95th minute goal strike
source: dailymail.co.uk
