Arsenal lead by six after VAR denies Havertz penalty

Arsenal stretched their Premier League lead to six points on Saturday after Martin Odegaard’s second‑half strike, yet the victory was eclipsed by a contentious VAR ruling that saw Kai Havertz argue with the referee over a non‑awarded penalty during the match.

VAR review denies penalty

Referee Farai Hallam was called to the pitch‑side monitor to assess Nobel Mendy pulling Kai Havertz’s shirt in the Hull City box in the 43rd minute.

After deliberation Hallam confirmed a holding offence had occurred but did not award a penalty, leaving Arsenal supporters confused.

Hallam announced: “After review, there is a holding offence by blue No. 32 on red No. 29. However, red No. 29 is in an offside position, so the final decision will be a free‑kick for offside to Hull City.”

There was no doubt that Havertz was in an offside position, and the laws state that merely occupying that position does not automatically constitute an offence.

For a penalty to be given, Havertz would have needed to become actively involved in play by attempting to play the ball or challenging an opponent before being penalised.

Calls for rule clarity

Former Premier League referee Darren Cann highlighted the part of the law covering attackers fouled before committing an offside offence and suggested Arsenal should have been awarded the spot kick.

Cann said: “If a player in an offside position moving towards the ball is fouled before playing the ball, the foul is penalised as it occurred before the offside offence.”

After the game, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted he had not reviewed the incident, was surprised by the bench’s view of a clear penalty, and said he hoped the interpretation would be clarified.

Cann cited two similar Premier League incidents: Brentford were awarded a penalty against Leeds United last season that was later overturned after VAR due to an offside infringement, and Newcastle United were awarded a penalty against Bournemouth in the previous campaign after Fabian Schar was pulled back while moving towards a free‑kick delivery.

In both cases the defender was in an offside position but had not committed an actual offside offence before the contact.

Cann concluded that the law can be interpreted differently in very similar situations and that greater consistency is required to deal with this complex and ambiguous rule.

Read: Arsenal spared anti‑Man City conspiracies by Madueke and GOAT referee mic moment.