There isn’t a north London derby without a bit of VAR controversy and that’s what Tottenham and Arsenal experienced on Sunday.
In fact, you don’t go through many Premier League matches now without VAR being the main talking point, or teams trying to make it that way.
At least Tottenham didn’t put out any statements after the full-time whistle because there were some contentious calls as Arsenal secured a 3-2 win.
Both teams came out of the traps pretty fast and made positive starts, with the away team forcing an early corner.
And given Tottenham’s issues from set-plays this season, they conceded from the first one and the mood flattened inside the stadium as Arsenal opened the scoring.
But the home team players ensured that Spurs were still on the front foot as they continued to surge forward, with Micky van de Ven thinking that he equalised after he pounced on a loose ball following Pedro Porro’s shot.
It was a brilliant finish from the centre-back, the home fans were celebrating, only for VAR to check the goal and then rule it out for offside.
Ian Wright and Tim Sherwood were raging at the call because they thought Takehiro Tomiyasu deliberately played the ball when it hit his knee before falling to van de Ven, with Dermot Gallagher then explaining the decision, as he told Premier League Productions (28/04/24 at 3:00 pm).
It was a very unpopular call inside the stadium. Still, the former referee thinks VAR made the correct decision because Bukayo Saka would add a second soon after before Kai Havertz would expose their neighbours from corners again.
Micky van de Ven’s offside goal
“If he (Tomiyasu) goes to block it, then he isn’t offside,” said Gallagher.
“What he has to do is that he has to have a clear chance to play the ball. He has to deliberately play it in a good action – I think van de Ven is very, very close to him as well.
“But the VAR decides that the first one is off Tomiyasu, he has gone to block the ball and the second one flies off Gabriel, there is no doubt about that. But he has gone to block it with his knees, he hasn’t gone to control the ball or play it away. So, if you come to block the ball, then it doesn’t negate an offence.”
Tottenham only have themselves to blame
It needs to be noted that Spurs had two weeks to prepare for this match and their fans will rightfully ask why they weren’t better prepared to deal with set-pieces.
Everyone knows that Arsenal are the best in the Premier League in this department and it’s also an area that has caused Spurs many issues.
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Yet, by the time the half-time whistle had gone, Ange Postecoglou had watched his players all but lose the game because they had shot themselves in the foot.
There was a fightback towards the end, but it only started after an error from David Raya.
All in all, this isn’t a good look for Spurs and it now puts huge pressure on the team as another London derby awaits them, this time a trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on Thursday night.
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