Leandro Trossard’s goal against Leicester City was disallowed on Saturday, and Arsenal found themselves in the middle of yet another contentious VAR decision.
Following last week’s thrilling victory at Aston Villa, Arsenal resumed play in pursuit of their first Premier League championship in 19 years. With 14 games left, a win over the Foxes would put Arsenal six points ahead of Manchester City.
Leandro Trossard received his first league start when Mikel Arteta took Eddie Nketiah’s place in the forward line and completed a £21 million deal from Brighton.
After receiving a pass from Granit Xhaka inside the Leicester box, the Belgian thought he had paid back the Arsenal manager’s faith in the 26th minute when he arrowed a beautiful shot into the top corner. But, Craig Pawson disallowed the goal during a VAR review after being instructed to see it on the pitchside screen.
Ben White fouled goalie Danny Ward from the opening corner, according to replays. Because of the defender’s foul, the Welsh international was unable to retrieve the ball before Trossard drove it in.
Leandro Trossard has the ball in the net for Arsenal, but after checking VAR, referee Craig Pawson has reversed the goal because of prolonged holding from Ben White on Danny Ward in the build-up, the Premier League wrote on Twitter.
It’s not the first time Arsenal has fallen victim to a harsh VAR ruling; earlier this month, Ivan Toney’s equalizer for Brentford turned out to be the incorrect call. Arteta previously stated about the technology that he would only be satisfied if he received the two points back (against Brentford), which is not going to happen. I appreciate the explanations and apologies that I believe were true, direct, and genuine.