Gary Neville declared the VAR decision that denied West Ham a goal against Arsenal as the biggest moment in the history of the Premier League for the technology. The Gunners scraped three points against the Irons after Callum Wilson’s goal was ruled out in the 94th minute.
After the former Newcastle striker found the net, VAR Darren England was left to deliberate whether Chris Kavanagh should review the goal. A crowd of bodies pushing and holding eventually saw Kavanagh sent to the monitor to decide whether West Ham star Pablo had unfairly impeded David Raya.
The official took in the incident before announcing to the stadium: “After review, West Ham no.19 commits a foul on the goalkeeper. Final decision, direct free kick.”
While the decision-making was underway, Neville made it clear how big a moment it was in Arsenal’s season and for refereeing in England. “I have to say, the big striker has got his arm across David Raya. He does disrupt him,” he said on commentary.
“And is VAR…what are they going to do? This is the biggest moment in VAR history in the Premier League. This is massive.
“Have VAR got the nerve, the guts, the courage to make the decision? This is massive for refereeing in this country. Arsenal Football Club, their first title in 22 years could rest on this.
“This is too big to get wrong, I think it is a foul on Raya.”
At full time, Neville doubled down on his verdict, suggesting the end of the game would go down in Premier League folklore. “If Arsenal are going to go on and win a title, this is the half,” he said.
View 2 ImagesVAR deemed that Pablo had fouled David Raya during Arsenal’s clash with West Ham(Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
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“This is the game that will go down in folklore. The late goal, the late VAR decision from Stockley Park from Darren England, and Arsenal get over the line.
“It’s a monumental movement towards a first Premier League title for this great club in 22 years. David Raya gets the hug he deserves from Mikel Arteta.”
Arsenal icon Ian Wright was happy to see his team get over the line and described the foul VAR flagged as a blessing. But he believes an earlier moment was more important.
“By any means necessary at the minute. We had to stay in it and we had to win the game,” he said.
“In the end we got it done. The save from David Raya is the save that wins it for us [the title].
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“Even with the foul, we have seen it now, he has got his arms across him and he is impeding him. It was a like a blessing!”
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