West Ham's goal against Arsenal was correctly disallowed. The rest is just noise | Jonathan Wilson

"A VAR decision. Fury. Empty noise. A title perhaps decided; a significant impact on the relegation battle. Shouting. Confused pundits ranting. Social media figures rallying to the side they were always going to take. Welcome to modern soccer. After what looked like an injury-time equaliser for West Ham was ruled out on Sunday, Arsenal now need only to beat Burnley and Crystal Palace to be sure of their first Premier League title in 21 years."

"Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was fouled, if not by Pablo then certainly by Jean-Clair Todibo, who pulled his shirt. West Ham (and Manchester City by extension) could feel aggrieved had the potential equaliser been ruled out for the way Pablo's arm stretched across Raya's neck, which looked far worse in a still or slowed down image than it did it real time, where it became apparent that Pablo was bracing himself as Leandro Trossard barrelled into him, and Raya had run into him."

"But the Todibo pull is clear, and referees love shirt-pulls because they are definitive. A shirt was pulled: it was a foul, and so the goal was rightly disallowed. And so we come to the other issues. Haven't Arsenal got away with worse this season, most notably their goals against Manchester United in the opening weekend and against Aston Villa at the end of December? To which the answer is possibly, but it's really not the job of Sunday's referee Chris Kavanagh or VAR official Darren England to consider that."

"Their job is simply to consider the incident in question and make the best call they can: that one team got the benefit of a tight decision in the past, whether five minutes ago or five months ago,"

A late incident involving West Ham and Arsenal ended with a VAR decision that ruled out a potential injury-time equaliser. Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was fouled, with Jean-Clair Todibo pulling his shirt, which referees treat as a definitive foul. The disallowed goal was also influenced by how an arm across Raya’s neck appeared in still or slowed images, though real-time context suggested Raya ran into contact as Leandro Trossard collided. The controversy is framed as part of modern soccer’s reliance on VAR, while broader questions about whether Arsenal received similar benefits earlier in the season are dismissed as outside the officials’ responsibility. Arsenal can secure their first Premier League title in 21 years by beating Burnley and Crystal Palace.

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