Tottenham Hotspur sealed the points on Sunday afternoon in a narrow 1-0 victory, with the only goal of the game coming from a penalty awarded by the VAR.
And on Monday, it was apparent Martin Keown was not impressed by the decision made to provide Harry Kane with the opportunity from 12-yards.
Did VAR make the right decision?
Yes
No
The decision was made in first-half stoppage time after Ashley Barnes was deemed to have handled the ball before a failed Spurs attack played out.
With three points secured, Spurs moved above their north London rivals with a two-point gap but face a nervous wait for Arsenal’s game in hand against Newcastle United later tonight.
Speaking on TalkSport, the former Gunners defender was left seething by Stuart Attwell’s decision to advise Kevin Friend to consider checking the pitchside monitor.
He said: “Nobody’s appealed. It really is a really unusual penalty. And then VAR jumps in – and I don’t think that’s what VAR is there for.
“I don’t think that’s the protocol of VAR. It has to be clear and obvious. And that certainly wasn’t. Now, obviously Spurs then profit from that and then that has implications going forward.”
And when Jim White suggested the laws were followed, Keown replied:
“But that’s not right, Jim. If it’s the wrong outcome, then that’s not fairness. VAR is there to make it fair. So VAR is not working in this situation.”
TIF Thoughts on Keown’s comments…
Keown has been pretty vocal over the last week regarding his thoughts about Spurs and it seems the nerves may well be getting to him ahead of a huge game for the Gunners later tonight.
There has been a lot of controversy over the decision to give the penalty yesterday, however, as White suggested, the law was followed by both Friend and Attwell.
So there is certainly a case to be made if Keown has a frustration over the law, but it does seem the right decision was made in N17 in accordance with the Premier League rules.
In other news: Big injury boost now spotted in behind-scenes footage at Tottenham