As known, the sole goal at St James’ Park on Saturday (November 4, 2023) ignited debates, particularly among Arsenal supporters. The Gunners’ manager, Mikel Arteta, even raised questions about the goal’s legitimacy.
Before Joe Willock delivered a cross into Arsenal’s penalty area, the ball appeared to have already crossed the touchline. Furthermore, there were a series of potential fouls leading up to the goal, including allegations of Joelinton fouling Takehiro Tomiyasu, Joelinton fouling Gabriel, and an offside position by Gordon.
The match officials took approximately four minutes before confirming the goal’s cleanliness. The Athletic reported that, in the end, VAR assessed three potential infractions.
Firstly, whether the ball had exited the field. From certain angles, it seemed as though the ball had crossed the line. However, beIN Sports’ replay analysis indicated that the ball had not entirely crossed the line.
Subsequently, VAR reviewed whether Joelinton had fouled Gabriel when heading the ball, which later became an assist for Gordon. Despite images showing contact between Joelinton and Gabriel, VAR deemed it insufficient to classify as a foul.
The final assessment centered on whether Gordon was in an offside position when he struck the ball to score the goal. Notably, there was only one Newcastle player ahead of two Arsenal defenders, namely Gabriel.
Arsenal’s goalkeeper, David Raya, was positioned behind Joelinton and Gordon when the goal was scored. Ultimately, this incident was also not regarded as an offside. The limitations of camera angles led VAR to conclude that there was no conclusive evidence of Gordon being offside.
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