Eberechi Eze took home the match ball after Arsenal’s North London Derby win, but Alan Shearer doesn’t think the playmaker’s hat-trick was entirely valid.
No one with ties to Arsenal woke up with a smile bigger than Eze after Arsenal’s 4-1 demolition of Spurs.
The England international scored a hat-trick against the club that wanted to sign him in the summer, a sight that would’ve pained Spurs fans more than anything.
Thomas Frank taunted Eze before the match, and while the midfielder had the last laugh, was he right to take home the match ball?
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Alan Shearer says Eberechi Eze’s first goal against Tottenham was offside
The Emirates erupted when Eze scored his first goal of the afternoon, doubling Arsenal’s lead after Leandro Trossard opened the floodgates.
Amid the bedlam inside the Emirates, there was a discussion about the validity of Eze’s opener and whether Guglielmo Vicario’s line of sight was disturbed.
Should Eberechi Eze’s first goal against Tottenham have been ruled out?
Alan Shearer spoke about the matter on The Rest Is Football podcast, maintaining that the goal should’ve been ruled out for offside.
“The first one [of Eze’s goals] should’ve been offside. It was very similar,” Shearer explained, referencing Virgil van Dijk’s ruled-out goal at the Etihad.
“I just honestly think that the referees and the VAR have got themselves in such a pickle with this situation. I thought they were petrified to give the correct decision today.
“He should’ve been offside today. There’s no way that those guys in the front room were not in that. They were directly in the line of sight of the goalkeeper; therefore, it was clearly offside.”
Though ruling the goal out for offside would’ve tainted Eze’s fairytale day ever so slightly, even Arsenal fans can’t argue with Shearer’s take.
Even Arsenal fans can’t argue with comparisons
Decisions such as the one made during the North London Derby impact the Premier League table, as Liverpool will tell you following their defeat to Manchester City before the international break.
Van Dijk had a goal ruled out for offside due to Gianluigi Donnarumma’s line of sight being disrupted by Liverpool players in offside positions.
The decision enraged fans and is still being spoken about today due to inconsistencies.
Eze’s goal stood, despite being rather similar to Van Dijk’s disallowed goal at the Etihad, which is the same situation that unfolded at Anfield on Saturday.
When Nottingham Forest beat Liverpool 3-0, Murillo’s goal was checked by VAR as the exact same situation unfolded, this time with Dan Ndoye standing in an offside position.
To Liverpool’s dismay, VAR concluded that Alisson’s line of sight was not disrupted, allowing the goal to stand.
Eze’s opener followed an identical tale, with pundits and fans well within their rights to contest the inconsistencies on show across the Premier League’s rule book this season.
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