Mikel Arteta gives hilarious response to key VAR decision in Arsenal v Burnley

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There has been a lot of focus on Mikel Arteta following his angry reaction to refereeing decisions in Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle last week.

Arteta was angry at a number of decisions that went against Arsenal, including a poor challenge from Bruno Guimaraes on Jorginho and a potential foul on Gabriel Magalhaes in the build-up to Newcastle’s winner.

A lot of criticism was directed Arteta’s way in the days that followed, and he was again asked about the refereeing and VAR after Fabio Vieira received a straight red card for a mistimed challenge on Josh Brownhill.

Arteta’s response to Fabio Vieira’s red card

Speaking after the game, Arteta gave a brilliant sarcastic response when asked about the decision to send off Vieira, who had replaced Kai Havertz earlier in the game.

“Please ask me about VAR because today it was good… I hope that I’m on TV saying the referees are so good and I’m completely with them and being very constructive,” Arteta stated.

“And with the red card, yes. Thank you for asking me. The VAR was right. The referee was right.

“Really good decision. Really positive from Mikel to speak about that… Good decision.”

Was Vieira’s red card deserved?

Vieira will now miss Arsenal’s next three games, and it was a deserved red card.

Arteta’s lack of complaints this time stems from the fact that Vieira entered into a careless challenge, and whilst it was not malicious, it was dangerous, with his studs making contact high up on Brownhill’s leg.

Arteta’s complaints about the standard of refereeing have been somewhat justified since already, with some high-profile decisions in other games being highlighted in recent days, but he may still receive a punishment by the FA for his comments.

However, in this case, referee Michael Oliver and the VAR team did make the correct decision over Vieira’s challenge.