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Arsenal's title challenge could be derailed by Lee Mason forgetting to check for an offside in the build-up to Brentford's goal
It has emerged that Video Assistant Referee Lee Mason forgot to properly assess whether Brentford’s equaliser against Arsenal was offside by failing to draw the famous lines that help determine whether a player was beyond the last man.
A bad day at the office for Premier League officials
On the same day that Chelsea were denied a painfully obvious penalty due to poor officiating, and Brighton were denied a goal at Crystal Palace after VAR in that instance drew lines on the wrong player, another crucial call went against Arsenal, and Mason's decision could have severe implications for the title race.
Arsenal were 1-0 up against Brentford but conceded a 74th-minute equaliser from an Ivan Toney header, and while VAR checked for a possible foul in the build-up to the goal, they did not check for a possible offside, which would have resulted in the goal being ruled out.
On further inspection, Christian Norgaard, who assisted the equaliser appeared to be offside, but this was never checked.
PGMOL representative Chris Foy said “In the build-up to the goal, Christian Norgaard whose cross it is that Toney heads in is in an offside position.
“However, the truth is that VAR didn’t fully investigate with the lines. The lines, simply, didn’t go down. And that counts as human error. Had the lines gone down the goal would have been disallowed for offside.”
How it affects the title race
The equaliser left Arsenal with only a point against Brentford and means that they will now hold only a six-point lead over Manchester City when they should have had eight.
With the Cityzens visiting the Emirates Stadium during the week, Arsenal could find themselves level on points with their closest rivals after their midweek fixture, when they should have had some breathing room with a win.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke of his dissatisfaction with the referee’s mistake after the game, saying, “I just looked back and it is offside. Have they explained why it wasn’t allowed? No.
“It is frustrating but they will probably give an explanation later in the week. Today we haven’t got one.”
It is hard to find an explanation for this one as the Premier League suffers another case of poor officiating, this time potentially harming a team’s title challenge.
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