By Issan Khan For The Mail On Sunday and Max Carter Keall For Mailonline
20:27 04 Nov 2023, updated 08:10 05 Nov 2023
- Anthony Gordon’s goal for Newcastle was full of controversy during the buildup
- Mikel Arteta was raging during his post match press conference and interview
- Kai Havertz is a broken man at Arsenal: Listen to the debate on It’s All Kicking Off
Mikel Arteta launched an astonishing attack on English referees after Anthony Gordon’s controversial winning goal for Newcastle left him feeling ‘sick’ and condemned Arsenal to their first Premier League defeat of the season.
The Arsenal boss said: ‘How the hell did this goal stand up? It’s incredible. I feel embarrassed. It’s an absolute disgrace that this was allowed. For many reasons it’s not a goal.’
The 64th-minute goal went through three separate VAR checks — to confirm Joe Willock kept the ball in play before crossing, a potential foul on Gabriel by Joelinton and whether goalscorer Gordon was offside.
Referee Stuart Attwell also failed to issue red cards to Kai Havertz for a rash challenge and Bruno Guimaraes for an elbow on Jorghino in the first half.
Areteta said: ‘It’s so difficult to compete at this level. This is nowhere near the [refereeing] level to describe this as the best league in the world. I feel sick to be part of this.’
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya fumed: ‘We are all frustrated. I saw the ball going out of play. I think it is a foul on Gabriel and it was offside.’
Arteta added in his post-match interviews: ‘The penalty on Eddie, there is a lot of things. The question is it’s not a goal, it’s simple. For a goal there are certainly things that are not allowed in football.
‘I have to stand here and explain, we lost three points. There’s too much at stake. It’s embarrassing. It’s not in their hands, I have to praise the players how they play here.
‘It’s incredible how they competed against this team, it makes me sick. I feel sick to be part of this.’
Arsenal were unable to overturn the 1-0 deficit with the Gunners suffering their first Premier League defeat of the season, losing key ground in the title race.
Arteta’s side lie third in the Premier League, three points behind reigning champions Man City after their home win over Bournemouth.
Arteta’s post-match outburst puts the Arsenal boss as risk of being charged by the Football Association.
Last season Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was suspended for two Premier League games and fined £75,000 after he was charged of improper conduct.
This was in regards to his comments about Paul Tierney, which were viewed as implied bias, questioning the integrity of the referee and bringing the game into disrepute.
Arteta’s comments have added to the growing scrutiny around VAR this season.
The most controversial VAR decision of the season came when Luis Diaz’s had a goal incorrectly disallowed during Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat by Tottenham in September.
Wolves manager Gary O’Neil has been vocal in his criticism of VAR in recent weeks.
O’Neil slammed ‘another terrible decision’ against his side following Wolves 2-1 loss against Sheffield United on Saturday.
The defeat capped a difficult week for Arteta’s side, who were beaten 3-1 in the Carabao Cup by West Ham in midweek.
Arteta had bemoaned the absence of VAR from the match, after claiming West Ham’s opening goal should have been ruled out for a foul on Aaron Ramsdale.
‘If there’s VAR, there’s no goal for sure,’ Arteta said following the loss to West Ham. ‘I understand for the referees it’s difficult because of the angle and the number of people there.
‘But again, I don’t want to use that as an excuse. We can still compete for the ball much better than we did and in that position.
‘Obviously that takes [away] something in the game which is very important – momentum.’
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, reacting to Arteta’s post match comments after the loss to Newcastle, came to the defence of the VAR officials.
The former Liverpool centre back highlighted that Gordon’s goal would have been given without VAR.
‘VAR didn’t change a decision from the officials tonight on the goal,’ Carragher tweeted.
‘They couldn’t find enough evidence/camera angles to overturn the three incidents.
‘They couldn’t give the ball out if they don’t know 100 per cent. If there was no VAR it would still have been given as a goal.’
The flurry of VAR decisions took four minutes to decide, with the first taking a look at whether the ball went out of play as Willock attempted to rescue it.
It was then being checked whether Joelinton committed a foul on Gabriel as it appeared the Brazilian pushed his fellow countryman in the back.
After it was deemed that was not a foul, VAR tried to look at whether there was an offside as Gordon looked ahead of Joelinton.
However, it was confirmed that there was no conclusive angle that Joelinton made contact with the ball which means they didn’t know whether Gordon was offside.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
