Mikel Arteta on key VAR decision against United: ‘Really difficult to understand’

Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal side saw their 100% record in the Premier League come to an abrupt end, but once again, a VAR controversy plagued the match.

Just 13 minutes into the clash with Manchester United, Arsenal thought they had taken the lead. After Martin Odegaard dispossessed Christian Eriksen, Bukayo Saka threaded a delightful ball to Gabriel Martinelli.

The Brazilian took a touch and lashed home with his left foot. The players wheeled around to celebrate, but after VAR intervened, Odegaard was deemed to have fouled Eriksen.

Mikel Arteta has his say on key VAR decision in United defeat

A mere 20 minutes later, United had the lead. Completely against the run of play. Arsenal drew level in the second half through Saka, but a Marcus Rashford double in nine minutes ended it as a contest.

Many feel Arsenal were hard done by, but that’s football. For manager Mikel Arteta, the decision not to award Martinelli’s goal is something he doesn’t understand.

The Spaniard spoke to Sky Sports via Goal.com and lamented the lack of consistency in using VAR over the last couple of weeks.

"“Lack of consistency,” Arteta said.“One is soft and last week they made a foul on Aaron [Ramsdale] but it is soft, it is not a foul. There is a foul on Bukayo [Saka], it is soft but not a penalty. Today it is a foul. The threshold in the first actions, you could see there is no yellow card because they want to keep a threshold in a big game. Really difficult to understand.”"

Had the goal stood, the result might have been different; perhaps United would have still found a way to win. Who knows.

What is encouraging is that unlike Arsenal teams of previous years, aside from the opening 10 minutes in which United were on top, the Gunners were clearly the better team on the day. Only to be undone in transition to the tune of two goals.

The performance as a whole is largely positive as the Gunners dominated for long stretches but couldn’t break through a stubborn defence.

The big issue to come out of the Premier League is VAR and several decisions last weekend left many of us questioning the competence of officials.

Unfortunately, that is football. You win some; you lose some. But for Arsenal, while they lost the fight, they could yet win the war.