Gary Lineker and Jamie Carragher have found themselves in disagreement after Arsenal had a goal against Manchester United controversially ruled out.
Gabriel Martinelli thought he'd opened the scoring in the 11th minute at Old Trafford, but the Arsenal forward's celebrations were short-lived after United's players surrounded referee Paul Tierney and pleaded for a foul. After a lengthy VAR check, the Red Devils - who ran out 3-1 winners - got their wish, as Martin Odegaard was deemed to have brought down Christian Eriksen in the build-up.
Arsenal midfielder Odegaard sent Eriksen to the floor without winning the ball to kickstart the counter attack, which Martinelli delightfully finished past David de Gea. Tierney needed to watch multiple replays of the incident after VAR official Lee Mason instructed him to review his initial decision on the pitch-side monitor.
After Martinelli's opening goal was chalked off, social media was ablaze with opinions and hot takes. Lineker and Carragher weren't exempt from the debate, as they found themselves on opposing sides over whether VAR needed to get involved.
England great Lineker wasn't happy before the call was made, writing on Twitter as Tierney went over to check his decision: "Here we go again. VAR is so tedious."
In contrast, Liverpool legend Carragher was pleased to see VAR do its job and claimed that Tierney had come to the correct decision. "VAR has a had an awful weekend but it did it's job in the first half as it was a foul on Eriksen," the ex-Anfield stalwart tweeted. Newcastle icon Alan Shearer certainly didn't agree, tweeting: "What a load of crap. #var."
At half-time while on punditry duty for Sky Sports, former United captain Roy Keane admitted: "Yeah it's soft, of course. But what helps United, Odegaard doesn’t get a touch on the ball. We've played in a different era, it's not a foul but in today’s game, you get touched [and it's a foul].
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"They're all doing it, a few times in the game players are staying down when they’re touched - I don't like to see it. But the way the games going, it is a foul."
On commentary, Gary Neville initially didn't think Odegaard had fouled Eriksen. "Well there are complaints, but I thought Eriksen was fairly dispossessed," the ex-Red Devils right-back declared. "I don't think he could see the Manchester United player that came and got it off him, it's Odegaard, he just steals it - there's a little nudge - but it's something from nothing."
