This archive report was first published on 3 January 2022.
Manchester City's visit to the Emirates Stadium on January 1, 2022, ended in a 2-1 defeat for Arsenal, with the Gunners' assistant manager Albert Stuivenberg and goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale expressing concerns over the inconsistency in VAR decisions.
Arsenal took the lead through Bukayo Saka, but Manchester City equalized with a penalty after Granit Xhaka was adjudged to have fouled City's Bernardo Silva in the box following a VAR review. Rodri sealed the result with a stoppage-time goal.
Stuivenberg felt that Arsenal were denied a 'clear penalty' when City goalkeeper Ederson challenged Martin Odegaard in the first half, but the incident was not reviewed by the VAR.
'I think it is a clear penalty or at least a moment for the referee to check,' Stuivenberg said, standing in for manager Mikel Arteta who had tested positive for Covid-19.
Stuivenberg also pointed out the inconsistency in the VAR review, saying, 'That happened in the second half with their penalty which is not really consistent.'
Ramsdale echoed those thoughts, saying there were 'huge positives' to take from the result while arguing both penalty incidents should have been checked on the monitor by the referee.
