A remarkable story surrounding a major mistake in the officiating of Arsenal’s clash with Brentford has come to the fore late on Saturday evening.
Mikel Arteta’s troops, of course, were back in action earlier today.
Fresh off a shaky stretch of form culminating in back-to-back defeats at the hands of Manchester City and Everton, the Gunners welcomed capital rivals Brentford to the Emirates, eyeing a much-needed return to winning ways.
When all was said and done, however, once more, Arsenal’s efforts came up short.
After substitute Leandro Trossard’s opener midway through the 2nd-half was swiftly cancelled out by Ivan Toney, the hosts were forced to settle for an underwhelming share of the spoils.
Brentford aren’t going anywhere!
Ivan Toney makes it 1-1 at The Emirates 🤝 pic.twitter.com/7e0JKoTeqM
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) February 11, 2023
As alluded to above, though, had it not been for an officiating error which can aptly be described as nothing short of egregious, Arsenal’s eight-point advantage atop the Premier League table may well have remained intact.
The info comes courtesy of James Sharpe of the Daily Mail, who reports that:
‘Video referee Lee Mason forgot to draw offside lines on Brentford’s controversial equaliser in a mistake that could have a massive impact on Arsenal’s fight for the Premier League title.’
Mason, the official tasked with overseeing the VAR system at the Emirates, is understood to overlooked Christian Norgaard standing in an offside position before squaring for Toney to slot home from close range.
Had he not ‘forgotten’ to draw the lines in question, Norgaard would have been flagged as offside, with the game’s equaliser ruled out, and Arsenal remaining on track for all three points.
Exc: VAR Lee Mason forgot to draw offside lines on Ivan Toney’s equaliser in a mistake that could have a huge impact on Arsenal’s title hopes.
Christian Norgaard was offside. Had the lines been drawn, the goal would have been disallowed.#AFChttps://t.co/V2woDadQpF
— James Sharpe (@TheSharpeEnd) February 11, 2023
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