Eberechi Eze's first goal for Arsenal against Tottenham in the north London derby has sparked fresh debate over the Premier League's offside rule. The goal, which gave Arsenal a 2-0 lead before half-time at the Emirates, was allowed to stand after a VAR check, despite Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario complaining that his view was obstructed by offside Arsenal players.
The Premier League Match Centre issued a statement explaining the decision: 'The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that there were no Arsenal players in the line of vision of the goalkeeper, and they made no movement to impact an opponent while in an offside position.' Replays showed Martin Zubimendi and Leandro Trossard standing in offside positions, blocking Vicario's view, though they were also behind Tottenham defenders Micky van de Ven and Kevin Danso.
The incident comes just weeks after Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk had a goal disallowed against Manchester City because Andy Robertson was ruled to have made an 'obvious action directly in front of the goalkeeper' while offside. Former Tottenham striker Les Ferdinand expressed confusion over the decision, telling Sky Sports: 'I don't understand how this doesn't affect the goalkeeper's sight. I'm not sure how that's not been looked at.'
Vicario, while not blaming the defeat solely on the goal, acknowledged the obstruction. 'There were three people in front of me so of course they impacted me,' he said. 'But we didn't lose the game for that.' Eze went on to complete a hat-trick in Arsenal's 4-1 win, becoming the first player to score a north London derby hat-trick since Alan Sunderland in 1978.
