Arsenal, Brighton victims of ´significant errors´, referees body acknowledges

Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion were victims of “significant” human errors during Saturday’s Premier League action, according to the body responsible for match officials in English football.

Ivan Toney equalised against the Gunners at Emirates Stadium to ultimately secure Brentford a 1-1 draw, but the goal should not have stood due to Christian Norgaard – who nudged the ball across goal for the assist – having previously been in an offside position.

VAR Lee Mason failed to spot it despite the goal going to a review to check if Ethan Pinnock had been offside.

Also on Saturday, Brighton were denied a winning goal when Pervis Estupinan had his strike ruled out for offside – the VAR seemingly deemed the wrong Crystal Palace defender to be the deepest player.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) admitted there were mistakes.

A statement read: “PGMOL can confirm its chief refereeing officer Howard Webb has contacted both Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion to acknowledge and explain the significant errors in the VAR process in their respective Premier League fixtures on Saturday.

“Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed by PGMOL.”

PGMOL did not comment on the controversy that occurred at London Stadium, however, where Chelsea were denied a late penalty when West Ham’s Tomas Soucek handled the ball in the box.

Chelsea boss Graham Potter sarcastically praised Soucek for a “good save” after the game.