Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has admitted that significant VAR offside decision errors were made during the Arsenal - Brentford game which allowed the Bees to avoid defeat and salvage a draw. After going 1-0 up, the Gunners conceded a 74th equaliser courtesy of Ivan Toney.
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The VAR in that game was Lee Mason, who reviewed the play for a possible offside in the buildup against Ethan Pinnock and cleared the goal. But in his review, Mason failed to identify Christian Norgaard, who assisted the goal for Toney, came into the picture from an offside position.
The referee didn’t apply offside lines and the goal was allowed to stand. The result left Arsenal six points ahead of Manchester City, ahead of their fixture at the Emirates on Thursday. But this hasn’t been the first time Lee Mason has made a massive error during an Arsenal match. Mason disallowed Gabriel Martinelli's goal against Manchester United when the score was 0-0. The Gunners then went on to lose the game 3-1.
The PGMOL also revealed that another similar blunder was made in the game against Brighton and Crystal Palace when Pervis Estupinan's goal was ruled out for offside. This disallowed goal prevented the Seagulls from the win and settle for a 1-1 draw. PGMOL released a statement addressing the incidents and stated these calls were ‘significant errors’.
"PGMOL can confirm its Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb has contacted both Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion to acknowledge and explain the significant errors in the VAR process in their respective Premier League fixtures on Saturday," read a statement issued by PGMOL. "Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed by PGMOL."
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