It was two points dropped for Arsenal against Brentford on Saturday afternoon, although there was a degree of controversy surrounding Ivan Toney's equaliser.
"Yes I just looked back and it is offside yes," Gunners manager Mikel Arteta insisted in his post-match press conference before explaining his frustration with regard to the decision. "It is, but they will probably give an explanation later in the week. Today we haven’t got one.
"You have to apply certain principles in defending and you do that by sticking to the rules, suddenly you change the rules and then you have to change your principles. So tell us before so then you don’t hide the line that high, because you’re always going to have an advantage if you get blocked."
READ MORE: Every word Mikel Arteta said on Toney's 'offside goal', Martinelli's form and set pieces
To make matters worse for the Arsenal boss, according to the Mail, VAR official Lee Mason 'forgot' to draw the lines when assessing Christian Norgaard's position on the field and as the Brentford player was in an offside position, the goal would have been ruled out if the VAR lines had been drawn.
Whilst many Gunners supporters are, understandably, not too pleased with VAR, others have noted a worrying trend that has emerged recently as in the last three Premier League games - against Manchester United, Everton and now Brentford - a goal has been conceded from a set-piece.
A flaw that Arteta admits is a concern: "Of course. You want to improve in every area. We are the third best team in terms of defensive set pieces," he added. We want to be the best. We discussed that today about giving nothing because from the start of play to set pieces this is their biggest strength.
"I thought we controlled them quite well. I think in that situation we had controlled them, but we hadn’t because they were offside and it’s always unfortunate when that happens because it costs you points, so set pieces are huge in this league, that’s for sure."
So how do Arsenal go about correcting the issue? Well, judging by a few comments on social media, it would appear the responsibility falls on the shoulders of Nicolas Jover who was appointed as the club's set-piece specialist in the summer of 2021 after leaving Manchester City.
@meet_jephthah tweeted: "Back to the drawing board, Nicolas Jover", @Jimmy___87 said: "Nicolas Jover get these guys on the training pitch please we need it", @19trossard said: "Wake up Nicolas Jover" and @AthariBahardin said: "It’s a cause for concern that we conceded another goal from set-piece. The players’ lack of conviction in neutralizing threats has been apparent for quite a while which warrants a fresh defensive dead-ball routine from Nicolas Jover."
What should fill Arsenal fans with confidence about Jover working extra hard is Pep Guardiola replying: "Every day" when previously asked how often his players practiced set-pieces during the 2019/2020 season when the Frenchman was part of his coaching staff at the Etihad Stadium.
Furthermore, as the north London outfit dealt rather comfortably with set-pieces all of season and up until the last three games of the current campaign, Jover's obvious attention to detail at both ends of the pitch is clear and it might just be a temporary blip which is resolved soon.
With Arsenal facing Man City on Wednesday night, there is perhaps no greater incentive for Jover to prove Guardiola right once again to ensure this flaw isn't exposed for the fourth successive Premier League fixture.
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