Gary Lineker has insisted that an appeals system must be introduced into VAR (Image: PA)
Gary Lineker believes the contentious penalty awarded to in their 1-1 draw with would’ve been successfully appealed by if such a system were available alongside VAR. The Gunners saw the lead given to them by 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri jeopardised when William Saliba’s attempt to clear the ball resulted in a collision with Joao Pedro’s face, leading to a penalty.
Pedro’s successful spot-kick conversion dealt a blow to ‘s pursuit of in the title race, who sit six points behind the league leaders having played one more game. Post-match on Saturday (January 4), Arteta expressed his frustration with referee Anthony Taylor’s call, stating it was unprecedented in his career to see such a situation result in a penalty.
On podcast, discussed the controversial incident, reiterating his belief that football might soon adopt an appeal system to mitigate such disputed refereeing decisions. The Match of the Day presenter reflected on the impact of the penalty, noting: “It’s a costly one for because it’s cost them a couple of points.
“But beside all that, I think we’ve had to say that and it comes back to my point as well about VAR. It’s really difficult when you go along the lines of is it enough of a foul? I know I’m like an old record on this, but that’s why it has to go to an appeal system where the team can go ‘hang on a minute, we want to look at that particular thing’, and then the referee or the VAR looks at it and they decide whether it is a foul or it is not a foul.
“Because the problem is when you go down the road of it’s not quite enough of a foul to turn over a decision, but it is a foul, then it becomes absurd. And I think, I think it’s inevitable that it will come at some point, the appeals side of it.
“And obviously you maybe have two [appeals]. And you keep your appeal if you’re right and you lose it if you don’t. So the teams will have to be clever about when they appeal and when they don’t appeal. And it also stops them looking at every single incident in the box, every corner that comes in.”
The Arsenal boss was angered with Anthony Taylor’s decision to award Brighton a penalty (Image: Getty)
During a discussion with co-host Alan Shearer, Lineker expressed his belief that had appealed Taylor’s decision, the referee would have overturned his on-field decision. “I think they would have done that, Saliba knew, he said straight away. ‘I touched it, I touched it’. He knew and they would have appealed. Then he’d have gone to the monitor and I genuinely think that Anthony Taylor would have changed his mind.”
Arteta was visibly irate post-match, expressing his discontent with Taylor’s decision. “I have never seen a decision like this in my career. I asked the boys if they have and nobody has seen it before,” the Spanish manager stated.
“When you look at the incident, the distance, the player, Joao touching the ball, then Saliba touching the ball, you can see contact there. I checked [with the officials]. After three seconds they said they had already checked. It seems quick.”