Another 1-0 for relentless Arsenal - but did Odegaard spare VAR blushes?

Published26 minutes ago

It was not pretty, but Martin Odegaard's goal was enough to secure the 1-0 win that ensured Arsenal go into the international break as the Premier League leaders.

It was Arsenal's 34th 1-0 win under Mikel Arteta, to equal their best start to a Premier League season under the Spaniard of 27 points earned after 10 games in 2022-23.

No team has enjoyed more 1-0 wins since Arteta was appointed back in 2019, with the Gunners winning their past 10 home games in all competitions, keeping eight clean sheets in that time.

Odegaard's goal though, bundled home from close range, may well have been a relief to those at Pro Ref, too.

A controversial video assistant referee (VAR) decision, which denied the Gunners a first-half penalty, threatened to be the story as a largely uneventful game drifted by.

When referee Farai Hallam was sent to the pitchside monitor for a VAR review for a shirt pull by Nobel Mendy on Kai Havertz, surely everyone inside the Emirates was expecting a penalty.

The irony would not be lost on Liverpool fans, who were denied a VAR penalty for a shirt pull last weekend when Arsenal's Jurrien Timber tugged back Alexander Isak.

Unlike Isak, Havertz made sure everyone - including VAR Michael Oliver, was aware that a defender had hold of his shirt.

Indeed, the cheers had already begun when Hallam started to describe the foul to the crowd - but Gunners supporters were stopped in their tracks. The referee pivoted to an offside against Havertz, and play restarted with a free-kick to Hull.

Had Arsenal not mustered that 72nd-minute winner from their captain, much of the attention would, once again, have been on VAR.

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Odegaard hits winner as Arsenal beat Hull to extend lead at top

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What do the rules say?

If Arsenal had dropped points, it wouldn't have been the first time this weekend that a match would have been dominated by discussions about the video officials.

On Friday, Coventry City were denied what appeared to be a clear penalty against Everton for a hair pull by James Tarkowski on Caleb Yirenkyi. Then in the second half, when Thierno Barry scored to put the Toffees 2-1 up and the ball appeared to come off his hand.

The controversy continued in Saturday's early kick-off between Leeds and Tottenham. First, Leeds wanted a penalty for handball by Mateus Fernandes, though replays did show the ball hit the Spurs player's shoulder.

Then came the potential red card for a challenge by Jayden Bogle on Mathys Tel, which has split opinion. The VAR, Tony Harrington, eventually decided after a four-minute VAR check that the foul did not have enough force.

That Tel was forced off injured, and referee John Brooks did not even show a yellow card on the field, only added to the frustration for Tottenham.

So on to the Emirates, and again the debate was around VAR.

It's a situation few would question. After all, an offside player winning a penalty surely goes against the very logic of the law?

If an offside player is running to the ball and is fouled before they attempt to play the ball or challenge an opponent, then the foul is considered to come before the offside offence.

The law seeks to prevent situations whereby defenders have carte blanche to foul attackers, just because the opponent is offside.

But is a complex area of law and is very much open to interpretation.

We have a few past case studies.

In February 2019, the season before VAR came in, an offside Harry Kane was awarded a late penalty in a north London derby after being dragged down by Shkodran Mustafi.

Two years ago, Newcastle were awarded a spot-kick against Bournemouth through a VAR intervention when Adam Smith tugged back an offside Fabian Schar.

Yet last December, after being awarded a penalty against Leeds, Brentford's Dango Ouattara was ruled to be offside and the spot-kick ruled out through VAR.

So which interpretation is correct? Kane and Schar, or Havertz and Ouattara?

Ouattara was somewhat different, as he appeared to be engaging with Gabriel Gudmundsson as the ball was played.

The Havertz example is more like the one involving Schar, who was running forward when his shirt was tugged back.

But there is an additional consideration, and this is where Oliver's thinking will lie.

Officials are asked to consider the likelihood of the attacker becoming involved in the play from a second phase. Let's say the ball could be first played by a team-mate, which then makes them onside. Then they are not purely benefitting from being offside.

In the case of Schar and Kane, they could have benefitted from that second phase.

Havertz was the only attacker who had any chance of being involved in the play, so the VAR determined offside was the fair outcome.

Confused? You've got every right to be.

At least tonight most of the talk will be about another victory for Arsenal - and not VAR.

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Sometimes we are trying to score the perfect goal - Arteta

Another game, another win but still Arsenal are looking for their attack to spark into life.

At the end of the day results matter but Arsenal, despite being top, are the lowest scorers of the teams in the top four.

They have the best defence in the league and arguably Europe but goals are also seeming hard to come by at the other end.

Arsenal have not scored more than twice in the league since the opening day of the season, when they put three past Coventry.

Arteta's side are missing talisman Bukayo Saka, who is out with a quadricep injury, and has a unique partnership with Ben White and Martin Odegaard on the right.

On the left Christos Tzolis started the season well but, after a hamstring injury while playing for Greece, the 24-year-old has not looked the same threat.

The same can be said for Kai Havertz too.

The 27-year-old picked up a hamstring injury playing for Germany and, even though he scored the winner against Liverpool, his performances have not reached the same level.

Viktor Gyokeres is firmly second choice this season and Arteta is still working out how to get the best out of the maverick Eberechi Eze, while Noni Madueke is working to fill the gap left by Saka.

Arteta was asked about the number of single-goal wins this season and what he can do to improve that.

"To be more efficient," was the answer the Gunners boss gave. "We are one against one against the keeper. That's happened twice today.

"There is a penalty there, there is another situation inside the box where the ball is bouncing. So many shots that have been deflected, blocked. We need to find ways to be more efficient, sometimes even more pragmatic.

"Sometimes my feeling is that we are trying to score a perfect goal against these low blocks. We need to be much more chaotic than that, and that's it. And open, I think, score much earlier because obviously that's going to change the course of the game."

Even if the Gunners could be more free-flowing going forward, they have started the season in a formidable way - winning nine of their 10 league games.

And if they manage to keep up that rate of winning, the Gunners will likely defend their Premier League crown and win back-to-back titles for the first time in 100 years.

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