Overview
- Referee Jarred Gillett initially awarded Arsenal a spot-kick for Viktor Gyökeres before VAR Darren England recommended a review that led to a dropped-ball restart.
- PGMOL’s Howard Webb called the on-field award a clear error, citing a visible deviation of the ball from Pope’s touch and describing the subsequent contact as a normal coming together.
- Mikel Arteta questioned whether the review met the clear-and-obvious standard, while former referees and pundits including Keith Hackett and Mark Clattenburg said the overturn was wrong or inconsistent.
- Richard Keys highlighted perceived inconsistency by contrasting Webb’s stance on the Pope incident with a previous call involving William Saliba and Joao Pedro.
- The Sun reported Gillett’s live mic at St James’ Park captured him telling Bukayo Saka the goalkeeper got a toe on the ball, with the outlet saying the audio was an unintended breach of protocol.