The Premier League has explained why Eberechi Eze's hotly debated first goal was allowed to stand in Arsenal's 4-1 demolition of Tottenham. The former Crystal Palace man fired a shot through a crowd of bodies to make it 2-0 but goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario complained that his view was blocked by some offside Gunners players. Despite that, the goal stood, and Eze went on to score a hat-trick on Sunday at Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal make statement of intent
Mikel Arteta's men went six points clear at the top of the Premier League with a commanding victory in the north London derby. Other than Richarlison's moment of magic, Tottenham barely laid a glove on Arsenal, who outclassed their closest neighbours without really getting out of third gear. Spurs never looked like springing an upset but one incident in the game could have potentially had a big impact on how the rest of the contest panned out. Indeed, Tottenham legend Les Ferdinand questioned why the goal wasn't scrutinised more.
He said on Sky Sports: "I will say, I don't understand how this [Arsenal players] doesn't affect the goalkeeper's sight [on the second goal]. I'm not sure how that's not been looked at."
AdvertisementAFPWhy Arsenal's goal stood
When Eze fizzed in his first goal shortly before half-time, replays showed that Martin Zubimendi and Leandro Trossard were both in the line of Vicario's view, plus, they were offside. Despite Tottenham's protestations, a VAR review did not go their way.
A statement from the Premier League Match Centre said: "The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that there were no Arsenal players in the line of vision of the goalkeeper, and they made no movement to impact an opponent while in an offside position."
Incidentally, Vicario admitted that even if the goal was chalked off, Tottenham probably wouldn't have got anything from the encounter.
He added on Sky Sports: "I think the way the game went it wouldn't have changed anything. There were three people in front of me so of course they impacted me. But we didn't lose the game for that."
Debate rages on over controversial goals
Liverpool submitted a complaint to the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) about the decision to rule out Virgil van Dijk's goal during their 3-0 defeat to Manchester City earlier this month. The goal did not stand as Andrew Robertson was in an offside position and was deemed to have interfered with play. Many will argue that this was also the case for Eze's first goal, raising concerns about inconsistent officiating.
Getty Images SportArsenal revel in 'special' day
Not only did Arsenal cement their place at the top of the Premier League, they dismissed their local rivals and Eze became only the fourth ever player to score a hat-trick in the north London derby.
Following the victory, Gunners boss Arteta said his side "dominated" the game, praised Eze's brilliance, and sent a message to the club's supporters.
He told BBC Match of the Day: "It's a very special day for us. We knew the importance of the match and what it means to our fans. To be able to give them that joy, it's a beautiful day.
"That tells you about the difficulty and what he's done today. To be fair he could have scored four or five. He's a big player who can create magic moments that unbalance a team. We dominated every part of the game. We created massive chances and had a lot of actions that we were very close to scoring. We stayed patient. Whoever we put in there they do the jobs for us. This squad has the belief and quality to deliver consistently.
"We have really good momentum but you can see how difficult every game in the Premier League is. It's a long run, let's go game by game. Let's enjoy tonight, then we have Bayern here and Chelsea away. We have a tough week."
