Eberechi Eze scored a brilliant hat-trick to help Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday evening.
Eze, who turned down Tottenham’s advances in the summer to join Arsenal, was the star of the show as the Gunners ran away with the North London derby.
His first goal has, however, provoked sharp reactions with many asking why it was allowed to stand despite many Arsenal players being in an offside position.
Was Eze’s first goal vs Tottenham offside?
Eze himself was not offside as he took the shot that went in, but up to three Arsenal players were offside.
The goal was given on the field with the VAR siding with the referee, Michael Oliver. It came just a few weeks after Oliver had chalked off Virgil van Dijk’s supposed equaliser against Manchester City due to Andrew Robertson standing in an offside position.
This was, however, not the case here, with fans left wondering. Edward Wafo asked: “Eze’s goal was beautiful, but I still don’t understand why this isn’t offside. The ball came through the middle where 2 Arsenal players were both offside and blocking the keeper’s view.”
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Bartosz Michalak said: “When Eze scored his goal, I was 100% sure they would rewatch angles on VAR because some Arsenal players who were offside may have interrupted the play by covering Vicario’s vision. Yet no one ever took it to VAR. I’m fuming.”
Why Eze’s goal vs Tottenham was given
However, in a statement, the Premier League explained the goal was given because the Arsenal players standing in an offside position did not block the goalkeeper’s view.
“The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that there were no Arsenal players in the line of vision of the goalkeeper, and they made no movement to impact an opponent while in an offside position.”
Eze’s first goal came after Leandro Trossard had put Arsenal ahead. The former Crystal Palace man added his second and third in between a world-class strike from Richarlison to send Arsenal six points clear at the top.
Tuko
