The body responsible for match officials across English football, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), has acknowledged “significant errors” in the usage of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in two English Premier League (EPL) matches on Saturday.
Gatekeepers News reports that PGMOL acknowledged this in a statement on its Twitter page on Sunday, said the two matches were Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brentford, and the fixture between Brighton and Crystal Palace.
The Gunners were stunned at the Emirate stadium after going one nil up through new-signing Leandro Trossard, before Ivan Toney bundled home an equaliser in the 74th minute.
PGMOL said Brentford’s goal was the subject of a review but Lee Mason, the official in charge of VAR, failed to spot Christian Norgaard returning from an offside position to assist the Toney.
In a related development, Brighton had a goal incorrectly chopped off by the VAR as offside in their draw at Crystal Palace.
PGMOL said it has contacted both Arsenal and Brighton to explain the “human error”.
The statement read, “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.
“Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed by PGMOL.”
Arsenal would have gone eight points clear Manchester City in their EPL campaign had they finished the game with a win.
They are now three points above second spot City, courtesy Sunday’s victory against Aston Villa.
