Arsenal penalty error was worst mistake, says Barber

Former Premier League referee Graham Barber has described the failure to award Arsenal a penalty against Hull City as "probably the worst mistake anybody could make". The incident occurred during the 1-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium, a result that extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to five points. Kai Havertz went down in the box after having his shirt pulled by Hull's Nobel Mendy, but referee Farai Hallam waved away appeals for a spot-kick.

The referee was asked to review the incident on the pitchside monitor by the VAR, but it was determined that Havertz was in an offside position before the foul occurred. Hallam explained to the crowd that the offside rule negated the need for a penalty, an interpretation that is incorrect according to the laws of the game.

Barber explained that the laws clearly state a foul should be penalised if it occurs before an offside offence. "Both VAR and the referee got this wrong, and the point about this is they got this wrong in law," Barber said.

He added that while many decisions in football are a matter of opinion, getting the laws themselves incorrect is unacceptable. "The referees are the custodians of the laws of the game and as custodians of the law, they need to implement the laws and if a law is not implemented, that's probably the worst mistake anybody could make," Barber stated.

Arsenal ultimately won the match thanks to Martin Odegaard's 72nd-minute strike, meaning the controversial decision did not affect the final result.