The Premier League have ruled that Sunderland were wrongly awarded a penalty against Arsenal this month – just 10 days after ref chiefs were forced to apologise to Manchester United for an offside blunder in their 1-0 derby defeat.
Furious Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta castigated the officials for their ‘unacceptable’ decision to award Sunderland a penalty following a tussle between Ezri Konsa and Dan Ballard in the Gunners’ 2-0 win at the Stadium of Light on September 12, and demanded an explanation from Pro Ref – the body which oversees Premier League officials.
Referee John Brooks penalised Gunners defender Konsa for grabbing Ballard at a corner and on Wednesday the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents five-person panel announced that they unanimously disagreed with the on-field decision, explaining: ‘Although it was a very untidy challenge in which Konsa initially had arms around Ballard, Ballard engages in a holding action which pulls Konsa onto him so they both fall to the floor.’
They did, however, hand a majority 3-2 backing to the decision of VAR official Stuart Attwell not to intervene, stating that it was ‘not a clear and obvious error’.
David Raya saved Enzo Le Fee’s penalty but Arteta – who was also booked during the match for leaving his technical area – launched an immediate protest and made his feelings clear after the game.
‘(The decision) is not acceptable. I watched it 20 times and I cannot find a way to understand how they’d think to give a penalty in that situation or the way the VAR has to intervene,’ the Arsenal manager said after the match. ‘At this level with all the work we put in, this cannot happen.’
Sunderland were awarded a penalty for this tussle, with Ezri Konsa penalised
Erling Haaland scored City’s winner but only after Enzo Fernandez – who was in an offside position – attempted to score
The panel’s judgment comes just over a week after Pro Ref apologised to Manchester United following their 1-0 derby defeat.
Erling Haaland’s winner for Manchester City was initially flagged offside but the call was overturned after VAR official Matt Donohue and his assistant Blake Antrobus determined the striker was in fact onside – but failed to identify his team-mate Fernandez interfering with play in an offside position.
‘I was really disappointed with this outcome. We all are,’ said Howard Webb, Pro Ref’s chief refereeing officer. ‘None more so than the officials themselves. They take a lot of personal pride in what they do and they’re obviously hurting now, having fallen short in this situation.’
And the five-man panel echoed that verdict, unanimously agreeing that the official had made an error. ‘Fernandez is in an offside position, attempts to play the ball that is close to him, and impacts the ability of the defender and the goalkeeper to play the ball in the process,’ the panel said in the published summary on Wednesday.
‘A VAR review should have been recommended for a missed subjective offside in the attacking possession phase.’