- Arsenal suffered a blow in the title race after losing 2-0 at home to West Ham
- Soucek’s opening goal stood as VAR could not determine if the ball went out
- Watch out Liverpool and Arsenal! Man City are ready to do what they always do and hit top gear at this stage of the season – Listen to It’s All Kicking Off
Mikel Arteta hit out at VAR again as Arsenal fell to a shock home defeat by West Ham, blowing their chance to regain top spot.
The result was David Moyes’s first away league victory against the old ‘big four’ of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United — at the 73rd time of asking.
Tomas Soucek controversially opened the scoring in the first half, with VAR unable to determine whether the ball had gone out before Jarrod Bowen’s cross.
Former Gunner Konstantinos Mavropanos doubled the lead after half-time to seal the victory.
Gunners manager Arteta said: ‘If the technology we have at the moment is not good enough to give us that answer (of whether the ball went out), what we have to do is, without that, win the game.
‘I haven’t seen it. They’re saying it’s not conclusive. It’s a shame that with the technology we have, it’s not that clear so we can say whether it’s out or in.
‘It’s done. It’s gone. There’s nothing we can do about it now.’
Arsenal, who managed 30 shots to West Ham’s six, have now picked up only four points in their last four league matches.
Moyes said on his historic night: ‘It was a brilliant defensive job, terrific structure, organisation and discipline. They had lots of the ball, too much for my liking, but we did a great job.
‘Arsenal played incredibly well and put us under so much pressure, but we have to say a big part of football is defensive. Sometimes you don’t want to talk too much about it but we did a really good job.
‘Arsenal used to make a living doing that here if you remember. I thought we defended fantastically well.’
On the VAR incident for Soucek’s goal, he added: ‘I hadn’t even thought about it. I just got the reaction from the players that nobody thought for a minute that there was anything up with the goal.
‘It must have been close because of the time it took to decide.’
Moyes is out of contract at the end of the season and added: ‘We are getting ready to talk. I don’t think any of us are getting it done too quickly. I don’t see any problems with that.’
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.