Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has said Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty in their 1-0 win over Hull, arguing that the officials incorrectly applied the laws of the game.
The Gunners beat Hull on Saturday thanks to Martin Odegaard's second-half goal, moving five points clear at the top of the Premier League heading into the international break. However, the first half at the Emirates Stadium featured a controversial moment when the score remained 0-0.
Incident and VAR Review
Referee Farai Hallam stopped play to review whether Nobel Mendy's pull of Kai Havertz's shirt in the box constituted a foul. It was decided that while Havertz was fouled and the contact was worthy of a penalty, the Arsenal striker was offside, so a free-kick was given to Hull.
That decision went against the laws of the game, which state that the offside should have been irrelevant as Havertz was not attempting to play the ball or challenging an opponent for it.
Gallagher's Verdict
Gallagher believes Arsenal should have been awarded a spot-kick but expressed sympathy for the officials involved. He said on Sky Sports: "The law says that if a player in an offside position is fouled before the offside occurs, a foul should be given and therefore a penalty."
He added: "In law, you should give a penalty. It is quite clear, the foul occurred before. But we talk about common sense. Havertz is 100 per cent offside. His starting position is offside.
"Three things he can't do: he can't play the ball as he'd be interfering, he can't challenge an opponent and he can't go in front of the goalkeeper. He is offside and the net result should be a penalty.
"Common sense is not allowed. When you think of it morally, can you really give a penalty for a player who is never in an onside position? He can't play the ball."
Call for Law Change
Gallagher praised the VAR process, noting: "The process of VAR was fantastic. The assistant calls offside the minute the ball comes in. The start position for the assistant was always offside.
"Ethically it is right but by law it is wrong. There is scope for tightening it up [the laws]."
