{"id":152,"date":"2026-03-17T23:25:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T23:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/?p=152"},"modified":"2026-03-17T23:25:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T23:25:32","slug":"premier-league-confirm-arsenal-benefitted-from-two-huge-var-blunders-in-title-race-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/?p=152","title":{"rendered":"Premier League confirm Arsenal benefitted from two huge VAR blunders in title race | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\t\t\"Manchester\t<\/div>
VAR errors cost Arsenal\u2019s opponents twice this season (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Premier League officials have admitted Arsenal benefitted from a major VAR mistake in their 1-0 win over Brighton earlier this month.<\/p>\n

The Gunners sealed a 1-0 victory through Bukayo Saka\u2019s early strike on 4 March \u2013 one of only two shots on target for them that evening.<\/p>\n

It was a huge victory for Mikel Arteta\u2019s side with Manchester City dropping points in the Premier League title race that night after their draw with Nottingham Forest.<\/p>\n

Brighton felt they should have been awarded a penalty at the end of the first half when Mats Wieffer was hauled to the ground by Gabriel Martinelli. <\/p>\n

Referee Chris Kavanagh allowed play to continue however with the incident cleared by the video assistant referee Michael Salisbury who deemed there was \u2018no clear and obvious error\u2019.<\/p>\n

But the Premier League\u2019s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has now said a penalty should have been awarded to the Seagulls.<\/p>\n

The ruling said: \u2018Martinelli is not looking at the ball, holds Weiffer into the area and prevents the\u00a0Brighton\u00a0player from challenging for the ball.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Brighton\t<\/div>
Saka\u2019s deflected strike sealed the win that night Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Panel voted: 4:1 that a spot-kick should have been awarded on the field, and 3:2 that it was a missed VAR intervention.<\/p>\n

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler and his staff fumed with the decision, clashing with Arteta on the night and later accusing Arsenal of time-wasting later in the match.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Brighton\t<\/div>
Arsenal also benefited from a VAR error in December (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That incident was the second time Arsenal have avoided conceding a penalty this season having also escaped punishment against Everton in December.<\/p>\n

On that occasion, William Saliba\u2019s challenge on Thierno Barry was not deemed a foul by VAR \u2013 with Salisbury on duty that evening too.<\/p>\n

The decision denied Everton the chance to equalise from the spot.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d like to (tell you about the discussion with the referee) but I\u2019d probably be fined,\u2019 Toffees boss David Moyes said.<\/p>\n

\u2018You need to find a way so we can talk about the referees or don\u2019t bother asking me.\u2019<\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: \u2018He has big dreams\u2019 \u2013 Premier League legend backed to become Arsenal or Chelsea manager<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Martin Odegaard sends clear message to Max Dowman ahead of Arsenal vs Bayer Leverkusen<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Former Chelsea star snubs Arsenal and names the two favourites to win Champions League<\/span><\/p>\n
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VAR errors cost Arsenal\u2019s opponents twice this season (Picture: Getty) Premier League officials have admitted<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}