VAR sides with Arsenal in contentious penalty moment, as Alexandre Lacazette opens scoring
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Updated 26/12/2020 at 18:30 GMT
Arsenal were facing Chelsea in the Premier League on Boxing Day looking to end a run of disastrous form which has left them contemplating a relegation battle. But their luck was in in the first half at Emirates Stadium as they opened the scoring via slightly contentious circumstances following a notable incident with Kieran Tierney.
Kieran Tierney of Arsenal is fouled by Reece James of Chelsea leading to Arsenal being awarded a penalty
Image credit: Getty Images
Arsenal took the lead at home to Chelsea via the help of a contentious penalty.
Granit Xhaka’s superb pass set Kieran Tierney free on the left of the box and after he ducked past Reece James, the Chelsea full-back brought the Scotland international down in the box.
Replays suggested that Tierney looked for the contact by stretching his leg back to find contact with James – a dark art that, on commentary, Gary Neville said was introduced to English football by former Arsenal man Robert Pires.
But despite a VAR check, it was determined that no clear and obvious error had been made by the match officials – so the penalty stood.
And that meant Alexandre Lacazette was free to score from the spot to give Arsenal a rare lead in the Premier League.
“Tierney was looking for it and he knows what he is doing,” said former Chelsea keeper Rob Green on Sky Sports.
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