Howard Webb, the former official in charge of the Premier League’s referees, explained precisely why Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was wrong to argue against the penalty his side missed out on during last weekend’s controversial clash with Newcastle United.
After seeing Viktor Gyökeres’s appeal for a spot kick at St James’ Park rebuffed following a VAR review, Arteta questioned why the officials at Stockley Park were getting involved at all. “If it is not a clear and obvious error, VAR should not intervene,” the Arsenal boss fumed.
Webb firmly disagreed.
Gyökeres rounded Newcastle United’s goalkeeper Nick Pope midway through the first half of Sunday’s late 2–1 win. The England international clearly made contact with Arsenal’s striker but, as Webb was eager to point out, he also got a brush of the ball.
“There was an important part around this in that the referee didn’t recognise that touch by Pope in real time,” Webb explained on Match Officials Mic’d Up.
“Hence the reason that when the VAR saw it, he deemed it to be a clear and obvious error because that touch by Pope hadn’t been seen, and therefore the referee could go to the screen to look at that really important aspect and make a judgement for himself, and the judgement was: I’ve seen the touch, therefore it’s not a foul, and I’m going to start with the drop ball.”
Why Robert Sanchez Was Penalised and Nick Pope Wasn’t
Amid the fury from Arsenal fans trying to argue that Pope deserved to be penalised, many cited Robert Sánchez’s dismissal for Chelsea against Manchester United earlier this season. Much like his Newcastle counterpart, Sánchez made contact with the ball before firmly connecting with an on-rushing forward—in that instance, Bryan Mbeumo.
Yet, while Pope was deemed to not have committed a foul, Sánchez was sent off.
Webb claimed the two scenarios are “really quite different.”
“Pope then plants his foot on the ground. He doesn’t drive it forward into Gyökeres,” the 2010 World Cup referee outlined. “There’s a gap, clearly a gap, between the two players after Pope has played the ball, and then the two players come together quite normally. The action by Pope is normal. It’s not reckless. It’s just a kick out towards the ball. The ball deviates.
“No contact on the player until the ball has been played away, and then the contact happens fairly normally. So, not a foul, and therefore a good use of the VAR to intervene to show the referee what really happened.”
Sánchez, by contrast, was deemed to be the aggressor. “He leads with a raised leg and stud showing, which goes into the leg of Mbeumo,” Webb claimed. “I think it’s reckless, at least. It has to be penalised. There is that small touch on the ball, but that doesn’t negate the fact you have to penalise this sort of action.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mikel Arteta’s Appeal for Arsenal Penalty Torn Apart by Leading Figure.
