Arsenal found themselves a goal down against West Ham United 13 minutes into their game at Emirates Stadium on Thursday night in controversial circumstances. Tomas Soucek put the Hammers ahead after some underwhelming defending from the Gunners, but there were questions over whether the ball was still in play in the build-up to the goal. Referee Michael Oliver consulted with the VAR but the goal was given on-field as there was no conclusive proof the ball was out of play. The officials decided to stick with the on-field decision as VAR could not determine if the whole ball was out of play.
Arsenal will hope the goal does not end up proving costly as they look to fight their way back, and their fans were left fuming after a similar incident led to a defeat against Newcastle United.
The ball appeared to have gone out of play shortly before the cross that led to the only goal of the game at St. James Park, but replay showed that it was still in play, with Gary Neville running a detailed analysis on Sky Sports afterwards.
Arsenal fans mocked the pundit at the time, and he took to social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) to react after the controversial West Ham goal was awarded.