FULL-TIME 1-0: PGMOL forced to apologize after FA reviewed Arsenal onfield penalty decision yesterday on Gabriel Martinelli as PGMOL releases official statement this morning – Arsenal now 9 points clear ahead of City
Gary Neville believes that Leandro Trossard was lucky to have not given away a penalty during Liverpool’s trip to the Emirates Stadium on Thursday evening. The Gunners star looked to have stepped across Florian Wirtz in his own area as the second-half commenced.
As a result, Wirtz fell to the turf making his claim for a spot-kick, although Anthony Taylor waved away the appeal as VAR agreed with his conclusion. However, Neville – who was on co-commentary for Sky Sports – had a differing view to the official.
He said: “That’s where I would like to see Florian Wirtz a lot more if I was a Liverpool fan. Doesn’t he look good when he’s weaving in those areas with three or four players around him?
“I thought it was clumsy, actually. Trossard steps cross him. There might not be enough in it but he takes a real chance. It’s not great from Trossard, not great at all.”
He then added: “We have the VAR screens in front of us and sometimes when you see them carry on looking at it after they have made the decision, ‘Am I right here or not?'”
It came as one of the major talking points in an otherwise uneventful opening portion of the game, in which, Conor Bradley came closest to breaking the deadlock with a cute chip over David Raya rattling the crossbar.
Liverpool were not the only team in north London which felt hard-done-by on the evening with regards to Taylor’s decision making. Around 10 minutes after Wirtz’s appeal, Gabriel Martinelli was on his back in the Reds’ area feeling as though he was shoved by Jeremie Frimpong.
Gabriel Martinelli goes to ground
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Gabriel Martinelli made his own appeals for a penalty(Image: Getty Images)
The Gunners star looked to run onto Martin Odegaard’s pinpoint pass from deep, as his opposing full-back chased him at pace before seemingly colliding. A VAR check then took place as video replays showed Frimpong with his arm on the back of Martinelli, with Neville once more giving his take.
He said: “No, there’s an arm on the back there, but no. It’s not a penalty.”
VAR were in agreement with Taylor once more, ruling that no foul had taken place during the passage of play as the game remained level. It comes as Liverpool managed to hold their own for large portions of the match, looking dangerous in part despite failing to deploy an out-and-out striker.
Cody Gakpo was started through the middle of the park, flanked by Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai on paper as a result of injuries to both Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike.
Isak is set to miss a number of months through a leg fracture sustained against Tottenham Hotspur last month which required surgery.
Ekitike was also absent from Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday through delayed onset muscle soreness, a problem which prevented him from making Arne Slot’s side making the trip to the Emirates on Thursday.
