Former Premier League referee Peter Walton has said that the video assistant referee (VAR) did not punish Emi Martinez after he appeared to bring down Alexandre Lacazette, because it is not the job of the VAR. interfere with “subjective” incidents.
The Gunners suffered a second straight loss in the league on Saturday, following a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa.
Mikel Arteta was furious at full time at the performance of the referees, whom he faced at the final whistle.
Arteta was especially upset by Chris Kavanagh’s decision not to send Ezri Konsa off in the first half, after he brought down Bukayo Saka with the Arsenal winger preparing to break through on goal.
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Arsenal were also denied a penalty in the second half, when Martinez grabbed Lacazette’s shirt as the two prepared to contest a corner kick.
READ:Arteta “disappointed” with chances missed in 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa
But Walton disagreed and said: “First, the VAR looked at it, they have a silent control of every incident.
“You could argue that the goalkeeper was fouled, you could argue that the goalkeeper was fouled by Lacazette. The point is that the VAR is not there to make the correct decision, it is there to identify clear and obvious errors by the referee, or if the referee has missed something.”
