Arsenal faced a setback, and Mikel Arteta immediately criticized the VAR system.

Arsenal clinched a thrilling win against Newcastle, but manager Mikel Arteta was still upset when VAR disallowed a penalty.

Arsenal achieved a dramatic victory over Newcastle United at St James’ Park, maintaining their pursuit of Liverpool in the Premier League standings. However, instead of pure joy, coach Mikel Arteta expressed frustration after witnessing a controversial VAR decision that nearly cost his team an advantage.

This angered Arteta on the sidelines. After the match, he did not hesitate to criticize the VAR process. “If we have VAR, it should only intervene in clear and obvious errors. But the fact that the referee took so long to make a decision shows it wasn’t a clear mistake,” the Spanish coach emphasized.

A notable incident occurred in the first half when striker Viktor Gyokeres was fouled by goalkeeper Nick Pope inside the penalty area. Referee Jarred Gillett initially pointed to the spot but then reversed his decision after consulting VAR. Slow-motion footage showed Pope touched the ball before colliding with Gyokeres, leading to the final call of a dropped ball instead of awarding a penalty to Arsenal.

Arteta also believes such decisions frequently go against Arsenal. “These are the things that always go against us, but today the whole team played with great determination and earned a deserved result. That’s why everyone is happy. Anyway, we won, so it doesn’t matter that much now,” he added.

In the post-match press conference, the Arsenal head coach continued to show firmness by asserting that VAR has strayed from its original principles. “I reviewed both the live footage and video. If it’s not a clear error, VAR should not intervene. We’ve heard this for years, but today it was a different decision. To me, that was clearly a penalty.”

Not only Arteta, but captain Bukayo Saka also shared the same view. The English forward admitted he was shocked by how the match was officiated. “If the referee takes too long to make a decision, it’s obviously not an obvious error. But situations like this always go against us. Fortunately, today the team got what it deserved. At that moment, I really didn’t know what to say. But the important thing is that we won,” Saka said.

Although the controversy surrounding VAR leaves many questions, the final result on the pitch brought joy to Arsenal. The three points help the Gunners continue their title race with Liverpool. However, the frustrations of Arteta and Saka show that the VAR issue in the Premier League remains unresolved.