Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is not satisfied with PGMOL’s apology over VAR’s costly error that cost his team maximum points in the London derby against Brentford.
The Gunners were on the wrong end of an abysmal VAR decision that allowed Ivan Toney’s equaliser stand last weekend.
Christian Norgaard looked to be returning from an offside position when he managed to get a cross in for Toney to finish.
The goal was subject to VAR review, but Lee Mason cleared the incident and allowed the goal to stand.
It was later revealed that Mason made the wrong call as he forgot to draw lines to determine whether or not Norgaard was in an offside position in the build-up to the goal.
PGMOL’s chief refereeing officer Howard Webb had reached out to Arsenal to admit and apologise for the significant VAR mistake that was down to ‘human error’.
However, Arteta insists he will only be satisfied if his side are given two points back for the VAR error that cost his side a win over their local neighbours.
“It wasn’t human error – it was not understanding your job,” Arteta said on BBC. “That’s not acceptable – I’m sorry.
“It cost Arsenal two points that are not going to be restored, so we are going to have to find those two points somewhere else in the league.
“We ended the game – after analysing all the evidence we had with the images – with huge anger and disappointment. We appreciate the apology and the explanations [from PGMOL] – they were really open.
“They were sincere, open, and genuine apologies and explanations, which is really good, but it doesn’t change the fact we have two less points than we should have in the table.”
Brighton & Hove Albion were also affected by a VAR decision that saw Pervis Estupinan’s opener against Crystal Palace wrongly chalked off for offside.
PGMOL have since reshuffled their pack, with referees responsible for the blunders removed from VAR duties for high-profile games.
