Martin Odegaard has claimed the decision to overturn Gabriel Martinelli’s goal during Arsenal’s defeat at Manchester United was the wrong call.
Martinelli raced in behind United’s defence to finish well into the far corner, but the restart was halted as an altercation between Odegaard and United’s Christian Eriksen was checked for a possible foul in the buildup.
It was ultimately adjudged that Odegaard had taken Eriksen and none of the ball and the goal was chalked off by on-field referee Paul Tierney after a lengthy pause.
Arsenal would go on to lose the game despite being impressive in spells, with a debut strike from Antony and Marcus Rashford’s brace leading the Red Devils to a 3-1 victory despite Bukayo Saka’s second-half equaliser.
“In my opinion, it’s never a foul,” said Odegaard. “For me, it is very, very soft. On the camera, you can always make it look a little bit worse. It’s frustrating.
“I barely touched him, they keep saying this is the Premier League and want it to be physical. I don’t understand how he can go back on it.”
The incident came after a Saturday of Premier League action which included a number of questionable interventions from video assistant referees.
West Ham were denied a Maxwel Cornet equaliser against Chelsea, while Newcastle also a Tyrick Mitchell own goal chalked off – both were for apparent fouls on goalkeepers Edouard Mendy and Vicente Guaita and had been let go in real time.
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