ARSENAL have fallen victim to a referee error in each of the five Premier League games they have dropped points in.
The Gunners were denied all three points against Brentford on Saturday because VAR failed to spot an offside.
Bees star Christian Norgaard was in an offside position when he crossed for Ivan Toney to equalise.
The PGMOL contacted Arsenal over the incident to explain what led to the mistake – VAR Lee Mason had failed to draw the lines to check if Norgaard was offside.
It is not the first time poor officiating has cost Mikel Arteta’s side this season, and they could be more than two points clear at the top of the league if correct decisions had been made.
Here are the other notable incidents where a refereeing blunder cost the league leaders.
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Arsenal vs Everton
The Gunners suffered their second Prem defeat of the season at Goodison Park last week.
But moments after James Tarkowski headed the hosts in front, which proved to be the winner, Arsenal felt they should have had a penalty.
Gabriel appeared to have been tripped in the box by Neal Maupay but referee David Coote awarded Everton a free-kick instead, and his decision stood despite a VAR check.
Former ref Peter Walton told BT Sport that the spot-kick may not have been awarded because Gabriel initiated the contact.
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Arsenal vs Newcastle
Gabriel was also denied a penalty during January’s 0-0 draw with Newcastle.
The centre-back was manhandled by Dan Burn in the penalty area and he felt the contact was significant enough to go to ground.
But the ref and VAR ignored Arsenal’s penalty pleas, much to the annoyance of Gabriel who took to Twitter to vent his frustrations.
The Sky Sports pundit were unanimous in their belief that a penalty should have been awarded, as was Arteta who slammed the “scandalous” decision.
Arsenal vs Southampton
Arsenal drew 1-1 with the Saints but could have had a 2-0 lead if Gabriel Jesus was awarded a penalty.
The Brazilian was dragged back by Southampton’s Duje Caleta-Car and tumbled over, but referee Robert Jones seemingly felt there was not enough contact.
Yet on the same weekend Armando Broja won a penalty for Chelsea after being fouled in similar fashion by Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay.
Ex-Prem ref Mark Halsey told SunSport that Arsenal were “robbed” by the decision not to award a penalty.
Arsenal vs Manchester United
United inflicted a first defeat of the season on Arsenal in September but the game could have had a very different outcome if Gabriel Martinelli’s opener had stood.
The Brazilian raced through to score but after a VAR check the goal was chalked off with Martin Odegaard deemed to have fouled Christian Eriksen in the build-up.
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There was minimal contact between the pair and Arsenal skipper Odegaard fumed about the decision.
The Premier League later admitted the decision to disallow the goal was incorrect.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
