Premier League gets a new rule idea after West Ham’s goal was wrongly ruled out against Arsenal
A former Premier League referee has suggested a rule change after Arsenal’s controversial 1–0 win over West Ham United on Sunday.
Leandro Trossard scored in the 83rd minute, putting Arsenal five points ahead of Manchester City with just two games left. But the match had its share of drama.
In stoppage time, West Ham thought they’d scored an equalizer, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on Arsenal’s goalkeeper, David Raya, after a long four-minute VAR review.
The Video Assistant Referee, Darren England, advised referee Chris Kavanagh to check the pitchside monitor before deciding there was a foul by Pablo on Raya. Many experts, like Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville, said Kavanagh handled it well and made the right call, but others like Shay Given and Peter Schmeichel disagreed.
Given expressed his frustration, saying, “Arsenal wouldn’t be top of the league if that was a free-kick. They score a lot by blocking and holding players. VAR took five minutes rechecking the call, which should’ve made them doubt it’s a free-kick. It’s unfair that this was given when it hasn’t been for other teams all season. That decision was wrong on many levels.”
On the other hand, former assistant referee Darren Cann, speaking on Match of the Day 2, thinks the rules might need to change to avoid these debates. Having worked as a match official for over 20 years, he said, “I believe it’s time to stop attackers from being in the six-yard box before a corner is taken. For goal-kicks, forwards can’t enter the penalty area; corners should have a similar rule for the six-yard box until the ball is in play. This would stop players wrestling before the ball comes in, making it clearer and reducing these tricky situations.”
West Ham will face Newcastle away on May 17, while Arsenal host Burnley on May 18.