Man United-Arsenal controversy: Official made ‘terrific decision’ – ex-Fifa chief
Gabriel Martinelli was right to have a goal disallowed for Arsenal during their FA Cup defeat to Man United, Keith Hackett has said.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that assistant referee Nick Hopton made a “terrific decision” in ruling out the goal.
Mikel Arteta’s side saw their hopes of claiming a trophy this season dealt another blow on Sunday (12 January), as they were beaten 5-3 on penalties by the Red Devils, after being held to a 1-1 draw.
That was despite Arsenal playing against ten men for a long period following a red card shown to Diogo Dalot an hour into the game.
The Gunners also saw a controversially awarded penalty saved in normal time, and they were also denied by the lineman’s flag early in the game, in what Hackett believes was the correct call.
Arsenal correctly denied an early opener in Man United defeat
With 18 minutes on the clock, Martinelli thought he had given the Gunners the lead after firing past Altay Bayindir when one-on-one with the Man United goalkeeper.
The Arsenal attacker was though flagged offside, despite claiming he should not have been, as the pass to him had been deflected into his path off opposition defender Harry Maguire.
With no VAR in operation at this stage of the FA Cup, there was no chance for the offside flag to be overturned on review.
Hackett though feels that the linesman made the correct call in denying a goal, in spite of the Gunners’ protestations at that decision.
Speaking to Football Insider about that disallowed Arsenal goal, and the through process Hopton will have gone through before raising his flag, the former referee said:
“This was a good decision from the assistant referee, no VAR, you want your assistant referees to do their job. These are not easy decisions but he got it right.
“It was a terrific decision from the assistant referee, no question. The movement of the assistant referee down the line, he has to remain with the second rearmost defender, that’s the important aspect.
“So what he’s doing is he’s looking down the line looking at being in that second rearmost position, he obviously knows where the goalkeeper is because he’s got that peripheral decision to do that.
“If you’re out of line you’re going to make an error, but he wasn’t, he’s looking at whether the player’s active and whether there’s anybody that might interfere, overall I think this was a really good decision.
“He made that judgement and got it right. It would have gone to VAR no question and VAR would have checked but I think it’s good to see without VAR an assistant referee getting the decision spot on.”
Arsenal now turn their attention back to the Premier League title race where they currently trail league leaders Liverpool by six points, having played a game more than Arne Slot’s side.
The Gunners are next in action when they host Tottenham in the North London derby on Wednesday night (15 January).
In other news, Arsenal fans have been left stunned by what one player did against Man United.
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