Arsenal's perfect start to the Premier League season ended with a 3-1 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Gunners had dominated large periods of the match against United and thought they had opened the scoring through Gabriel Martinelli in the first half. VAR intervened and sent on-pitch referee Paul Tierney to the monitor after spotting a potential foul from Martin Odegaard on Christian Eriksen in the build-up to the goal.
There has been plenty of discussion as to whether it was a foul from the Gunners' club captain, with Arsenal icon Ian Wright agreeing with VAR's decision to chalk the goal off. Mikel Arteta asked for more consistency from officials after the defeat during his post-match press conference.
READ MORE: Mikel Arteta calls for ‘consistency’ after big VAR calls cost Arsenal in Man United defeat
Speaking during Sky Sports' Ref Watch show, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has explained why Martinelli's goal was disallowed. Gallagher said: "I thought it was a foul during play and when the VAR checked it, I was quite confident they would overturn it and sent him to the monitor and he overturned it.
"I think once Paul Tierney goes to the monitor and sees that push and the lower body - he’s always going to give a foul. Also it’s very early in the attacking process when they got the ball and transferred very quickly so there was no time to reset."
Roy Keane admitted the tackle from Odegaard on Eriksen was 'soft', but still a foul. During Sky Sports' coverage of the clash at Old Trafford, Keane said: "Yeah, it’s soft, of course. What helps United is that Odegaard doesn’t touch the ball.
"Obviously we played in a different era. It’s not a foul in our day, but the way the game’s going… They’re staying down when they get touched. I don’t like to see it. I suppose it is a foul."
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