Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario has suggested Eberechi Eze’s first goal for Arsenal in the north London derby should not have stood.
Eze doubled Arsenal’s lead four minutes after Leandro Trossard had broken Spurs’ resistance in the first half at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
The England international went on to score twice more, bringing up his first hat-trick for the Gunners as Mikel Arteta’s side moved six points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
However, there was some controversy over Eze’s first goal as Vicario complained that his view was being blocked by three Arsenal players standing in an offside position.
Interestingly, similar happened at the Etihad Stadium a fortnight ago when Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk had a goal disallowed - to make it 1-1 - because Andy Robertson was adjudged to have been in Gianluigi Donnarumma’s line of vision.
Unlike that Italian goalkeeper, the decision did not go for Vicario and the Premier League Match Centre explained why the goal was allowed to stand.
A statement read: "The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that there were no Arsenal players in the line of vision of the goalkeeper, and they made no movement to impact an opponent while in an offside position."
#ARSTOT – 41’
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) November 23, 2025
The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that there were no Arsenal players in the line of vision of the goalkeeper, and they made no movement to impact an opponent while in an offside position.
While Vicario has refused to use the goal as an excuse for Tottenham’s poor showing in the north London derby, he has questioned the interpretation over the ruling.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, he said: “I think that in the way the game went, it could not have changed anything.
“I saw a goal disallowed for people being in front of the goalkeeper.
“There were three people in front of me, so of course they impacted me. But we did not lose for that, but it’s just a fact and probably in some situations the decision has to be more clear.”
