EPL: Ex-ref Howard Webb gives break down of Arsenal’s disallowed goal vs Newcastle

Head of PGMOL, Howard Webb has explained why Anthony Gordon’s goal for Newcastle against Arsenal survived various VAR checks in a Premier League clash.

Webb gave his analysis in the latest instalment of Match Officials on Tuesday.

The show was hosted by former England and Liverpool striker, Michael Owen.

Michael Owen: What did you make of this situation?

Howard Webb: This was a big moment, an unusual situation with three aspects for the VAR to check whether the on-field decision of goal should be overturned.

We see the ball getting very close to the goal line, don’t forget we’ve got an assistant referee who was right in line. The ball does not have a lot of pace as it goes to the goal line, so he is looking right along the goal line, better than any of our cameras.

We know the ball is curved so it can be overhanging the line and we need evidence that it is out. The ball comes over and Joelinton challenges Gabriel. It could be a foul, it might be a foul. The VAR decides the evidence from the footage isn’t clear enough to intervene for a review for a clear error. The fact opinion is split after a lot of analysis since the situation suggests that was correct non-intervention because of that 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. So again, no conclusive evidence that Gordon was offside when the ball was last touched to him. The VAR went through that diligently and identified no clear evidence to intervene to overturn the goal. The process actually was correct.