Arsenal suffered another VAR agony on Thursday night when Tomas Soucek gave West Ham United a shock lead in a Premier League match. Soucek silenced the Emirates Stadium with 13 minutes remaining in the London derby after a lengthy VAR check that was sure to spark a new debate.
Arsenal came into the match looking to regain their Premier League status ahead of Liverpool and responding to Manchester City’s 3-1 win at Everton on Wednesday.
But West Ham thwarted a dominant start from the Gunners by stringing together a fine move that culminated when William Saliba failed to prevent Emerson Palmieri’s cross from the left.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Magalhaes then missed clearances in the box, causing Jarrod Bowen to head the ball back across goal where Soucek fired past David Ray.
Michael Oliver stood by his decision on the field after a several-minute VAR review, which found that Bowen narrowly missed keeping the ball in play on the goal line.
However, replays could not show definitive proof whether the ball had left the field or not, as the Kladivar striker’s body was blocking the view of the main camera.
This led to another farcical incident due to the lack of top angles for a decision that has already caused Arsenal pain this season – despite the Premier League’s status as the best in the world.