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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta

Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal: Arteta rages about VAR “disgrace”

By Andy PymontPosted on Posted in Arsenal, English Premier League, Newcastle United

A fractious game finished Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal on Saturday night. Mikel Arteta and his remarks in post-match interviews have dominated the discussion since the full time whistle. The Arsenal boss was far from happy as he branded officials and VAR “a disgrace”.

By framing events in this way, Arteta made it sound like he was on the end of a major injustice. His reaction channeled that of Jürgen Klopp earlier this season. But Klopp had been on the end of a major error. The Tottenham-Liverpool VAR fiasco highlighted serious structural issues. But was Arsenal’s experience here really the same?

Reviewing the Incidents

There were three big and contentious issues in the game. VAR took a look at each of them. Let’s do the same and see what we make of how the referees did.

🟥 Potential Red Card for Kai Havertz

The first big issue in the game came when Kai Havertz made a rash challenge on Sean Longstaff in the 37th minute. The German dived in with both feet, studs showing, far off the floor:


I agree with this Twitter account here. I view this tackle as dangerous, not merely reckless as VAR assessed it. In my opinion, not sending Havertz off here was a clear error by VAR. Havertz is out of control and has no possibility of winning the ball. Longstaff is extremely lucky not to have had his season – or maybe even his career – ended.

The decision also didn’t feel very consistent with other decisions in the Premier League this season. Alexis Mac Allister received a red card in Liverpool’s match with Bournemouth for a much less dangerous tackle. There have been many other examples too.

🟥 Potential Red Card for Bruno Guimaraes

Bruno Guimaraes took the non-sending-off of Havertz as a green light to start launching himself into some tackles and then appeared to land a blow on Jorginho in an off-the-ball incident:


This incident seems tailor-made for VAR intervention. The referee didn’t see the incident as it happened away from the ball, but the TV images are very clear. This is completely unacceptable behaviour and textbook violent conduct. I can’t believe VAR didn’t issue a red card when they reviewed this incident.

I can only think of one explanation for why Guimaraes was not sent off. That is that VAR had begun to have second thoughts about the Havertz challenge. Then they acted to “keep things fair” and didn’t give a red for this either. If that is the case, I really dislike it. Officials should judge each incident on its own merits. This one is violent conduct and should have been a sending off.

âš½ The Thrice-Reviewed Goal

In the 64th minute of the match, one of only three shots on target in the game total resulted in the game’s only goal.

Jacob Murphy’s cross missed everyone in the box and appeared fated to run out of play. Joe Willock had different ideas, chasing it down, nudging the ball back into the field, and showing some agility as he hurdled the corner flag. His cross to the far post eluded David Raya, deflected off of one or both of Gabriel and Joelinton as the two Brazilians collided toward the far post, and fell invitingly for Anthony Gordon to sweep home from close range.

VAR looked at this goal no fewer than three times. In-stadium communication of the VAR process seems to have improved from previous incidents. However, this did lend an air of farce to the situation as the crowd was told about each successive check. The process dragged on for many minutes. After three reviews of different aspects of the goal, eventually VAR determined there wasn’t evidence of an error on the field to overturn. The referee signalled for a goal and Newcastle led 1-0.

📹 VAR Checks

Here’s what VAR looked at and how I judge each element of the goal:

  • Potential Ball Out of Play: At full speed it did look like Willock may not have reached the ball in time to keep it in play at the byline. However, replays seem to make it clear that the full ball has not crossed the full line. A digital reconstruction by Bein Sports concluded the same. This element of the goal seems the least controversial.
  • Potential Foul by Joelinton on Gabriel: Joelinton and Gabriel collide in the goal area before the ball falls to Gordon to score. Replays from different angles give different impressions. The main Sky camera angle suggests there is little wrong. Gabriel seems to stoop to head the ball, rather than being pushed. The reverse angle, however, does show Joelinton has both arms on Gabriel’s back. It’s not clear how much force is being applied. Officials do attend to allow more contact in the box from a cross than in other match situations. This is for me the most controversial element of the goal. The referee could easily have given this either way in real time. I think in either case, VAR would not overturn the decision on the field.
  • Potential Offside for Anthony Gordon: There was also a check whether Gordon is onside or not. It’s hard to tell because Gabriel and Joelinton obscure the ball and it’s not exactly clear who makes the final contact and when. However, Gordon is in line with Joelinton and it’s likely he is in line with the ball. In this case, he cannot be offside. I also believe most football fans, when asked about offside decisions on VAR, would prefer for the benefit of doubt to be given to the attacker.

Is Arteta right to feel aggrieved?

This takes us back to Arteta branding officials and VAR in this game a “disgrace” during post-match interviews.

I don’t think the evidence of the incidents in the match really supports this conclusion from Arteta. Both sides should have had a red card. Arteta didn’t really indicate which aspect of the goal he had a problem with. If it’s the Gabriel foul, I think there is some justification for feeling aggrieved. However, there’s also not clear video evidence to give such a call. In that context, you can understand why the original decision stood.

Where next for VAR?

I think Howard Webb should review the two red card incidents as a team. In fact, as I said previously, they should review every VAR incident every week and see if there’s anything to learn and improve their standard work processes.

However, broadly speaking, this wasn’t really a controversial game from a VAR perspective. It’s certainly not adding to the Tottenham-Liverpool VAR controversy as Arteta seems to be trying to suggest.

Where next for Newcastle and Eddie Howe?

This was a great result for Newcastle and Eddie Howe and continues a great recent run of form. As usual for Newcastle, however, it came with some bad injury news. Dan Burn is now out for two months with a back injury, which is a big blow.

However, Newcastle have a great “next man up” attitude at the moment. Their squad players are taking their opportunities to play really well. They will hope this can continue with a crunch game against Dortmund tonight in Champions League Group F.

Where next for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta?

It’s understandable for Arteta to be emotional after the game. Newcastle frustrated his team, limiting them to a single shot on target in the match.

I like to think that Arteta’s comments are about trying to take pressure off his players and onto himself. We see managers doing this a lot. He wants to create a siege mentality. The aim is to increase togetherness amongst his squad and between players and fans.

Unfortunately, Arsenal have continued to double down with a club statement now being released. There are reports today that Arsenal are now demanding a meeting with the Premier League to discuss a compiled list of incidents. I think this is a real overreaction. Arsenal are much better served by trying to move on.

Arsenal are also next in Champions League action. They play Sevilla on Wednesday. A win would put them on the brink of qualification to the knockout rounds. That would be a great change in the narrative and a superb tonic to their frustrations after losing 1-0 to Newcastle.

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