The Premier League's Key Match Incidents Panel has confirmed that Arsenal and Liverpool were both on the wrong end of incorrect refereeing decisions in the opening weeks of the season.
The panel reached a unanimous conclusion that Ian Maatsen fouled Bruno Guimaraes during Arsenal's win over Aston Villa, with the Gunners being wrongly denied a penalty. The midfielder was brought down inside the penalty area in the 98th minute of Arsenal's victory, yet referee Jarred Gillett failed to point to the spot, and VAR opted against sending the decision for review. Guimaraes desperately appealed for a penalty, but his protests fell on deaf ears.
KMI Panel verdict on Arsenal penalty claim
The Key Match Incident Panel is an independent body comprising five members: three former players or coaches, one Premier League representative, and one from ProRef. They provide an impartial assessment of key decisions across every Premier League fixture.
The KMI Panel said: "The panel felt that a penalty should have been awarded on-field for Maatsen's reckless challenge on Guimaraes. Clear contact was made on the attacker's standing leg and Maatsen made no contact with the ball."
They also maintain that the failure to award the penalty constituted a clear and obvious error. The Premier League stated: "They (KMI Panel) also felt that VAR should have intervened as the non-penalty awarded was a clear and obvious error. The panel felt that the challenge was reckless and therefore a second caution should have been awarded."
Liverpool penalty decision criticised
The KMI Panel also ruled that Nottingham Forest shouldn't have been awarded a penalty against Liverpool for Alisson's challenge on Neco Williams. However, the panel added that the incident didn't meet the threshold for a VAR intervention, meaning Michael Oliver was right not to send referee Samuel Barrott to the monitor.
The panel said: "The contact from Alisson was inevitable as a consequence of his momentum in attempting to save the ball. The contact made was not reckless and below the threshold for a penalty. However, the non-intervention by the VAR was unanimously supported on the basis that it was not a clear and obvious error."
Accuracy rates across Premier League fixtures
The Premier League revealed that, during the second round of fixtures, there were 21 crucial refereeing incidents. Of these, 76 per cent were judged to be accurate on-field calls, with that figure climbing to 90 per cent after VAR assessments.
The panel determined that two VAR reviews leading to reversed decisions were confirmed as correct, while the incident involving Guimaraes represented the only overlooked VAR intervention.
