Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz may have scored against his future employers on Wednesday night.
The Brazilian, who has been linked with a transfer deadline day switch to Arsenal, scored directly from a corner to equalise for the visitors at the Emirates Stadium in the 74th minute with what was only his second touch of the ball after replacing captain John McGinn just moments earlier.
However, should the goal have stood? Well, Gunners goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale certainly felt he was being impeded by Villa midfielder Boubacar Kamara on the goal-line which ultimately prevented him from keeping out Douglas Luiz's effort that flew straight in.
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But following a VAR check the goal was allowed to stand, which means the north London outfit have now failed to keep a clean sheet at home since March - stretching all the way back to last season's win over Leicester City - and despite claiming all three points, there remains a debate around the validity of the goal.
Thanks to some investigating from some Arsenal supporters on Reddit, Ramsdale appears to have reason to be slightly aggrieved about Luiz's goal being given, as a ruling from 2016 states: 'A player may not shield the ball if it is not in playing distance. For example, if a player stands in front of the goalkeeper on a corner kick, and then moves to prevent the goalkeeper getting around them, this should be called as impeding'.
Furthermore, as per the 'IFAB Laws of the Game 2022-23': 'A player may shield the ball by taking a position between an opponent and the ball if the ball is within playing distance and the opponent is not held off with the arms or body. If the ball is within playing distance, the player may be fairly charged by an opponent.'
Upon a closer look at the replays, Kamara did appear to be holding off Ramsdale with his arms and that prevented the Arsenal goalkeeper from keeping out Luiz's effort. Of course, the incident didn't matter too much in the end as Gabriel Martinelli immediately restored the Gunners' lead with what turned out to be the winner.
And who knows, Luiz and Ramsdale might soon be able to share a joke about the goal with the midfielder being linked with a move to the Emirates and his manager Steven Gerrard not exactly playing down the possibility of a £15m deal on transfer deadline day: "I am not in control of that. There are more than two people in control of that, and I am certainly not one of them," he said after the game.
"That will be Douglas, that will be his agent, that will be what happens. I would like to keep him, he is a fantastic player. I have made that abundantly clear. We are not in a position where we need to lose our top players, but at the same time, Douglas has got a year to go, and it is one of those really touchy situations where the club has to do what is best for the club, not necessarily what is best for me."
Now, football.london understands that Luiz was a target for Arsenal in the January window at the beginning of the year but it is unlikely that a move will materialise before the 11pm deadline, despite the need for midfield reinforcements with Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny sidelined through injury.
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