Arsenal took a 1-0 lead just seven minutes into their semi-final Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening via Ben White, but the full-back’s finish wasn’t without its controversy
Chelsea have been told that Arsenal’s early goal against them in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening was right to stand, despite questions over VAR consistency.
Ben White opened the scoring for the Gunners just seven minutes into the match, unchallenged at the back stick as he connected with a pinpoint Declan Rice corner. However, as the ball bundled into the back of the net, Viktor Gyokeres appeared to be blocking Marc Guiu in an offside position.
VAR took very little time to take a look at the incident as a result, quickly clearing any wrongdoing as the goal was allowed to stand. Sky Sports‘ panel of Mark Chapman, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Jamie Redknapp debated the incident at half-time, with Chapman explaining: “It was briefly looked at by VAR, but their decision, because it is subjective, is Gyokeres is not impacting the ability of an opponent to play the ball.”
To which, Hasselbaink added: “For me it’s not offside. It’s well worked from Arsenal, well done. We all spoke about it before the game that they are strong in their set pieces – and he’s not looking at the ball.”
Chapman then added: “And they were able to do that very quickly, Jarred Gillet on VAR, ‘I’m deciding he isn’t impacting anybody’s ability to play the ball. Goal, move on,” before Redknapp said: “Thank goodness.
“Otherwise they would have had to give all the supporters in here a duvet while they wait for it to decide. You can’t.”
It comes as Manchester City saw a goal overruled in the same competition on Tuesday evening against Newcastle United. The Sky Blues already held a 1-0 advantage at the time courtesy of Antoine Semenyo’s opener in the 53rd minute.
However, the Ghanaian was denied his brace around 10 minutes later. Semenyo connected with Tijjani Reijnders’ corner with his thigh as the ball bobbled past a helpless Nick Pope, but elation among the visitors was incredibly short-lived.
Spotting Erling Haaland in an offside position in front of Malick Thiaw in the aftermath, VAR made the decision to intervene, asking Chris Kavanagh to take a second look on the pitch-side monitor.
Despite not touching the ball, Haaland was deemed to have impeded Thiaw’s ability to clear the ball, with Kavanagh explaining: “After review, Manchester City number nine is in an offside position and impacts the ability of the defender. Final decision offside.”
However, Chris Sutton – who was on co-commentary for Sky Sports throughout the game – was left less than impressed with the verdict. He said: “I’ve got to tell you, I think the game’s gone.
“Is he really going to stop that Thiaw? You think the distance from Semenyo…a yard, a yard-and-a-half. Thiaw’s not going to react to that. That’s just a sheer guess from the referee.”
During the review, he also explained: “You see the contact from Semenyo. Is Haaland really interfering that much with Nick Pope?” before he later said: “I’ve got to say, I don’t see it that way. Look at the distance that Semenyo is away from Nick Pope. I think this would be incredibly harsh to rule this out.”
While Newcastle were gifted a lifeline as a result of the decision, it was a case of delaying the inevitable at St James’ Park in the grand scheme of things. That’s because Rayan Cherki ensured the Sky Blues headed into the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium come February 4 with a two-goal advantage in the game’s dying embers.
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