Confusion marred Arsenal’s winning goal against Manchester United for the millions of people watching from home after Sky Sports did not show one of two VAR checks on the goal.
It was an entertaining encounter that had everyone watching on the edge of their seat, but many of Arsenal supporters may not have known whether to properly celebrate Eddie Nketiah’s late winner.
This is because Sky’s coverage failed to show the entire VAR process before Anthony Taylor decided to give the goal.
The second, more obvious check to determine whether Nketiah was onside before prodding the ball home was shown for all to see, with the Arsenal star just about in front of Wan-Bissaka’s boot to ensure he had not strayed offside.
But, there were question marks over whether Oleksandr Zinchenko had narrowly mistimed his run from Trossard’s pass before the Ukrainian star played an inviting ground-cross into the area that eventually led to the winner.
Viewers would have seen it was a close call, but Sky didn’t show the check on that passage of play until after the incident, which left those watching in the dark over if Zinchenko had gone too early or not.
It became obvious by the fact the goal was given, replays showed Zinchenko was kept onside by Martinez, who was trying to keep Nketiah quiet.
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While the Sky coverage switched to the VAR footage after that offside had been checked, footage showed the angle which determined Zinchencko was onside before moving on to the next clip.
Once the goal was awarded to Arsenal, the Gunners left-back let out a scream of relief, showing the level of passion Mikel Arteta’s side have this campaign.
Arsenal currently sit top of the Premier League, boasting a five-point advantage over Manchester City who are second on the table.
Arsenal also have managed to get 50 points after 19 matches, meaning they are operating at a 100-point pace at the half-way stage.
After the full-time whistle, Zinchenko told reporters how his Arsenal teammates laughed at his title talk in pre-season, but things have changed and none of them are laughing now.
“When I arrived, the quality I saw, I realised that we have everything to achieve the big things,” the former Manchester City defender told Premier League productions.
“I started to speak in the dressing room, ‘forget top three, we need to think about the title’. Some of them were laughing, but no-one is laughing now and all of us is dreaming. But still like I said there’s a lot of games to play.”
He added: “Everyone realises we have a lot of games ahead of us and we just go step by step. The mentality and spirit is right. That’s the key. Of course, there is a lot of space to improve but we are on the right way.”
