Ivan Toney’s controversial equaliser against Arsenal not fully investigated by VAR team at Stockley Park; Draw with Brentford saw Arsenal drop more points in title race; Mikel Arteta later said ‘different rules’ were applied for Toney’s goal
The Professional Game Match Officials Limited has acknowledged a ‘significant error in the VAR process’ was responsible for Brentford’s offside goal being awarded in their 1-1 draw at Arsenal on Saturday.
The PGMOL, who is responsible for refereeing in the Premier League, had already apologised to Brighton after admitting VAR made a mistake in disallowing a first-half Pervis Estupinan goal in their game at Crystal Palace for offside, with the lines drawn incorrectly by officials.
Lee Mason, the VAR for the Arsenal-Brentford fixture, ‘forgot’ to apply the lines which would have shown Christian Norgaard in an offside position before assisting Ivan Toney’s equaliser.
“PGMOL can confirm its Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb has contacted both Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion to acknowledge and explain the significant errors in the VAR process in their respective Premier League fixtures on Saturday,” the body said in a statement.
“Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed by PGMOL.”
The Gunners were on course for victory against Brentford before Toney headed in his equaliser.
Earlier in the move, a potential block from Ethan Pinnock, who was standing in an offside position, on Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes – as Mathias Jensen swung a free-kick into the box – was checked and cleared by VAR.
But Mason then failed to spot Norgaard’s standing in an offside position and did not fully investigate the incident.
The PGMOL hasn’t formally commented on why VAR also ignored Chelsea’s calls for a late penalty at West Ham when Tomas Soucek handled the ball. But according to The Times, that decision is being described as ‘subjective’ whereas the acknowledged errors that hurt Arsenal and Brighton have been attributed to ‘human error’.
Report: Mason ‘forgot’ to draw lines for Brentford equaliser
The first admission of Mason’s error was reported on Saturday night.
PGMOL representative Chris Foy, who according to The Daily Mail was in the VAR Match Centre at Stockley Park on Saturday, told the newspaper: “VAR was looking to see if there was an offside and whether Ethan Pinnock had blocked off Gabriel in the build-up. He looked at the possible foul and decided there hadn’t been one and therefore referee Peter Bankes hadn’t made a clear and obvious error.
‘However, in the build-up to the goal, Christian Norgaard – whose cross Toney heads in – is in an offside position.
‘However, the truth is that VAR didn’t fully investigate with the lines. The lines, simply, didn’t go down.
“And that counts as human error. Had the lines gone down the goal would have been disallowed for offside.”
Mason was stood down from VAR duties for a round of Premier League fixtures in September after his error saw Newcastle have a goal disallowed against Crystal Palace.
Speaking on Ref Watch in September, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher offered his thoughts on Newcastle’s controversial disallowed goal against Crystal Palace
The Sun, meanwhile, said Mason was also involved in a wrongly disallowed Gabriel Martinelli goal for Arsenal at Manchester United the following day.
Mason will discover if he faces a similar fate when the official appointments for next weekend’s games are announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Dermot Gallagher suggested the referee was right to disallow Gabriel Martinelli’s goal, while Sue Smith and Stephen Warnock both thought the decision could have gone either way
Former ref Hackett calls for Mason to be sacked
Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has called for VAR official Lee Mason to be sacked for failing to rule out a goal which has dented Arsenal’s title challenge.
Hackett’s call to PGMOL chief Howard Webb comes amid fresh controversy surrounding the implementation of VAR with Chelsea and Brighton also aggrieved at controversial decisions which went against them.
The former official said in a Twitter post: “Howard Webb is now in charge of the PGMOL. One of the first things he should do is dismiss permanent VAR operator Lee Mason.
“This weekend, Mason lets another referee down by not disallowing the Brentford goal for offside. These are decisions that VAR should get right.”
Arteta: Error has proved costly for Arsenal
Mikel Arteta questions whether Ivan Toney’s equaliser should have stood in the 1-1 draw to Brentford at the Emirates Stadium
Mikel Arteta speaking after the 1-1 draw with Brentford:
“I just looked at it back and it is offside. We’ll probably be given an explanation later in the week but today we haven’t got any.
“Looking at the images, you have to apply certain principles in defending and you do that by sticking to the rules and suddenly you apply different rules then you have to change your principles. So tell us before because then you don’t hold the line that high because you’re always going to have an advantage if you get blocked.
“It’s too late, the goal was allowed, we dropped two points.”
PGMOL apologise to Brighton for disallowed Estupinan goal
Prior to issuing their statement on Sunday afternoon, the PGMOL had already apologised to Brighton after admitting the VAR made a mistake in disallowing Pervis Estupinan’s goal against Palace.
The lines drawn in the VAR room were drawn incorrectly and the goal should have stood.
A Brighton club spokesman said: ” As was confirmed to the club by PGMOL, a serious error was made in disallowing Pervis Estupinian’s goal at Crystal Palace yesterday afternoon.
“The lines drawn in the VAR room to determine whether Pervis was in an offside position were drawn incorrectly, and the goal should have stood. While hugely disappointed by the error, the club’s accepted PGMOL’s apology and will not be making any further comment.”