Referee Anthony Taylor made a clear error with the distance of the Arsenal wall to the Manchester United free-kick that opened the scoring at Old Trafford on Sunday, according to reports.
It came as the Gunners dominated possession yet again, but struggled to turn that amount of the ball into chances at goal.
While Arsenal built well, they failed to find that creative spark to open up their rivals in the final third with clear-cut opportunities.
The only quality in the first-half came on the brink of half-time, when Bruno Fernandes placed a free-kick into the back of the net.
However, it seems as though referee Anthony Taylor made a clear error that may well have cost Arsenal.
Anthony Taylor made error with Arsenal free-kick wall distance
Bruno Fernandes’ shot from just outside the box managed to loop over the wall and dip in time to beat the outstretched hand of David Raya.
At the time, Gary Neville on Sky Sports questioned the distance of the wall, claiming that it seemed too easy to beat the tall players that Arsenal had setup.
The pundit’s suspicions were proven correct as Sky Sports later showed that the actual distance was 11.2 yards out – instead of the required ten yards.
That mistake from Anthony Taylor may well have allowed Fernandes to find the back of the net, despite the attempted blocks made by the wall that was deeper than it should’ve been.
It’s something that has left Arsenal fans especially frustrated as it appears a referee call has gone against the side.
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Arsenal fans fume at Anthony Taylor over free-kick mistake
After the decision was made clear, fans took to social media to vent their frustration at yet more mistakes made against Arsenal.
One fan said: “The Arsenal wall was just too far back!” while another added: “Any reason why the Arsenal wall was made to be 12 yards away?”
“The distance between the ball and the wall looked off. Those boys in the Arsenal’s wall are 6ft and Bruno didn’t put much height on the ball,” another fan added.
“There’s a lot that was our fault about going behind, but the wall being over a metre too far back is unbelievably poor refereeing.”
In all, it isn’t a decision that has been the only reason for their struggles, but it doesn’t help in a moment where Arsenal don’t feel anything is falling their way in terms of luck.
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