VAR took just seven seconds to check Brighton’s controversial penalty against Arsenal.
The Gunners dropped two points in the title race at the AMEX last weekend after William Saliba was deemed to have made head contact with Joao Pedro when going for a header in the box.
Howard Webb explained why Brighton were awarded a penalty
William Saliba made contact on Joao Pedro using his head
Boss Mikel Arteta was seething at full time, revealing he had never seen anything like that in his entire career and claimed the VAR official Darren England took just seconds to confirm Anthony Taylor’s decision.
And the Spaniard was proven right, but PGMOL chief Howard Webb insists ref Taylor made the right call, despite replays showing Saliba’s head glancing the ball.
In the released transcript, England can be heard saying during his check: “Clear. Clear penalty. Head on head.”
And Webb explaned: “It’s unusual. Saliba doesn’t head it. Saliba has the ball flicked onto his head and then he goes into the head of Pedro. He gets there late on Pedro, who goes down.
“It’s a late contact by someone who hasn’t played the ball himself. The ball has touched him, but he’s not played it.
“When you break it down in that way, it’s a foul. If he heads the ball first at that loose ball and there’s a collision, I have no issue with that and then there’s a collision. That’s not what happened.”
Discussing the incident with Webb, Michael Owen pushed back on TV show Match Officials Mic’d Up.
He said: “If he touches the ball it has to make a difference. If he doesn’t touch the ball it’s definitely a penalty.
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“He gets a fair chunk of the ball.”
Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard said: “None of us have seen many penalties given for situations like that before.
“There is a small contact on the head there, but William touches the ball too, so it’s a weird one.”
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