Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli thought he bagged another big goal for the club, only to be denied by an offside flag in the FA Cup third round clash with Manchester United.
The Gunners went into the match knowing they needed a win to stay in the competition while knocking out their close rivals.
Pressure is being heaped on Mikel Arteta to win silverware this season, even more so after falling to defeat to Newcastle in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg.
Arsenal started in bright fashion against Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium and thought they took the lead, but it was called off in a twist for the side.
Why Gabriel Martinelli’s goal for Arsenal vs Manchester United was disallowed
Arsenal worked themselves into a good position early on as some passing play in the middle played through Gabriel Martinelli to tap home an opener.
There was a bit of fortune at the end as Harry Maguire appeared to play the ball through to the Brazilian for the opportunity.
Cheers turned to disappointment though as the match official on the line raised their flag to disallow it for offside.
There was some confusion, as the last touch came off of a Manchester United player, causing some fans to believe it should’ve been given as a goal.
However, the law states that there has to be intent behind the pass through, with Maguire’s touch seen as more of a deflection than an intended pass that finds Martinelli.
It was an unfortunate blow for the goal not to stand, but it was the right decision for the match, making Arsenal work hard to find another opening.
- READ MORE: Why Riccardo Calafiori is missing from Arsenal vs Manchester United as new injury details revealed
Why didn’t VAR overturn Gabriel Martinelli’s goal?
VAR didn’t overturn Gabriel Martinelli’s goal for two reason, the first being that there is no VAR in the FA Cup until the fifth round.
It means any decision made on the field will have to be stuck with, creating a mixture of potentially good and bad impacts.
For supporters, there may be a better viewing experience without the delayed wait time and uncertainty over decisions.
However, if there is a mistake, then no doubt there will be fury from either side that VAR wasn’t made available.
The second reason is the intention rule mentioned before, which would’ve meant that VAR wouldn’t overturn it anyway.
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