16 November 2023 , 08:15
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Richards Keys has urged Howard Webb to "address the shambles" in a blazing review on PGMOL's Match Officials Mic'd Up show.
Webb was in the studio with ex-Liverpool and Manchester United striker Michael Owen to discuss a number of controversial VAR incidents that have occurred across recent Premier League games.
Arguably the most high-profile incident raised during the show was the decision to allow Newcastle's opening goal against Arsenal on November 4. Anthony Gordon prodded the ball home to spark delirium at St James' Park, though Mikel Arteta was left furious after the match.
He claimed the decision to allow the goal was "disgraceful and embarrassing". There were three separate incidents which VAR looked at leading up to Gordon's strike. Arsenal believed the ball had gone out of play, while they also called for offside. The Gunners also protested that Gabriel had been fouled by Joelinton as he knocked the ball down for Gordon to slam home inside the six-yard box.
It's the decision not to overrule the goal for Joelinton's push that has aggrieved Keys, however, as the 66-year-old lambasted VAR and Webb. He tweeted: "It's scary. They've had two weeks to identify a 'clear and obvious' push yet Howard Webb & @PGMOL still can't see it?
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"What's the point of his show? Telling us they were correct doesn’t make it so. Stop trying to be a TV star star Howard & address the shambles."
Meanwhile, when explaining the incident, Webb admitted the VAR team didn't even consider Gabriel being fouled and chose against intervening. "I don't see a specific foul on Gabriel," Webb said. "I see two hands on his back but I don't see anything of a push that warrants him flying forward like that."
Should the goal have stood? Let us know in the comments below!
Arsenal felt Anthony Gordon's strike should not have stood (Getty Images)Webb also outlined why the goal was allowed to stand as Arsenal's impressive unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign came to an abrupt end. "This was a big moment - an unusual situation with three aspects for the VAR to check whether or not the on-field decision of goal should be overturned," he said.
"We see the ball getting very close to the goalline - don’t forget we have an Assistant Referee who is right in line - the ball hasn't got a lot of pace as it goes to the goalline, so he's looking right down the line better than any of our cameras.
"And we know the ball is curved, so it can be over-hanging the line and we need evidence it's out, and we don’t have that here. The ball then comes over and Joelinton challenges Gabriel, and it could be a foul, might be a foul. The VAR decides that the evidence from the footage isn't clear enough to intervene with a recommendation for a review for a clear error.
"I think the talks we've seen after, the opinion that is split across a lot of analysis, would suggest that was a correct non-intervention because of the subjectivity. And then one of those unusual situations where the ball goes between two players, and trying to identify exactly when the ball leaves Joelinton, is really difficult to establish because of the players being so close together.
"So again, no conclusive evidence that Gordon was offside when the ball was last touched. The VAR went through that diligently and identified no clear evidence to intervene to overturn the goal. The process was actually correct."
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