Tottenham fumed after Micky van de Ven’s goal against Arsenal was ruled out – but it was the correct decision
arsenal emerged 3-2 victors against Tottenham on Sunday in the north London derby to strengthen their claim on the Premier League title.
The Gunners raced into the lead early on when Bukayo Saka’s corner was headed in by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg before the game’s first moment of controversy.
The home side thought they grabbed an equaliser when Van de Ven latched onto a loose ball to smash it past David Raya.
However, VAR intervened and ruled that the Dutchman was offside – much to the fury of the home fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the players on the pitch.
That was because the initial ball, a hard-hit shot from Pedro Porro outside the box, rebounded off Gabriel Magalhaes and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
It led many to believe that the offside should not have counted as the ball had been ‘played’ after two Arsenal players touched it.
That included Cristiano Romero, who fumed after the match on social media to a fan: “West Ham scored the same goal against us at home.”
On that occasion, a shot deflected off Romero before finding its way to Jarrod Bowen, who netted for the Hammers.
But the Argentine quickly deleted his post as it became apparent that the decision to disallow Van de Ven’s strike was the correct one.
Tottenham’s woe was compounded moments later when Saka doubled Arsenal’s lead before Kai Havertz made it three before half-time from another corner.
Spurs tried to mount a comeback after the break when a Raya error allowed Romero to score before Declan Rice was adjudged to have fouled Ben Davies in the box.
That allowed Heung-min Son to score from the penalty spot with three minutes left of normal time to make it a nervous ending for Mikel Arteta.
But Arsenal held on to keep their spot at the top of the Premier League, though Manchester City continue to lurk behind by one point with a game in hand.
