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Just three months ago, Arsenal and Newcastle played out one of the most controversial Premier League matches in recent years.
The Gunners were beaten by the Magpies in contentious circumstances on Tyneside, when Anthony Gordon bundled home from close range despite three possible infringements in the build up.
VAR debated for four minutes while checking to see if the ball had initially gone out of play, an offside from Gordon and a foul on Gabriel.
With that in mind, ahead of their clash at the Emirates on Saturday night, Mail Sport looks at why we should expect fireworks from the Premier League clash.
Anthony Gordon wheeled away in celebration after scoring a contentious goal against Arsenal when the two sides met back in December
Gordon smashed home from close range to give Newcastle the lead just after the hour
Newcastle’s winning goal was allowed to stand after a VAR check that lasted over four minutes
Back in November, Arsenal’s visit to St James’ Park was marred in controversy as a number of incidents were later put under the spotlight after the final whistle.
The first moment which stirred debate was a dangerous challenge from Gunners star Kai Havertz on Newcastle’s Sean Longstaff.
The home players were left up in arms and surrounded the referee after the German midfielder’s reckless tackle and were left stunned as Havertz escaped with a yellow card.
Commentator Gary Neville was also shocked by the first half incident as he hammered Havertz for the tackle, claiming the player was ‘never getting there’.
‘It’s a stupid, stupid challenge,’ he said on commentary. ‘I think it was dangerous, he was never getting there. He lunges in.’
In view of the incident, the Premier League ‘s Independent Key Match Incidents Panel said it was ‘a very dangerous challenge and the type of tackle that needs to be eradicated’.
Shortly after, there was more drama after Newcastle star Bruno Guimaraes appeared to elbow Arsenal’s Jorginho on the back of his head – but received no punishment from the referee.
On that incident, Neville’s co-commentator, Jamie Carragher, admitted it was ‘not great’ but didn’t deem it worthy of a sending off.
Arsenal’s Kai Havertz was lucky to avoid a red card after a tackle on Sean Longstaff
Tensions rose between the two sides as a number of heavy challenges went under the radar
‘I think it was more of a forearm from Guimaraes,’ he said. ‘He just lost his head. It’s not great. For me if the referee sees it it’s a yellow card, I don’t think it’s a red card.’
However, the Premier League’s Independent Key Match Incidents Panel thought otherwise, as they later claimed the Brazilian should have been sent off. No retrospective action was taken.
Then, after those two incidents, came the most controversial moment of the match as Anthony Gordon poked home despite the ball appearing to go out of play.
The 64th-minute goal went through three separate VAR checks — to confirm Joe Willock kept the ball in play before crossing, a potential foul on Gabriel by Joelinton and whether goalscorer Gordon was offside.
The flurry of VAR decisions took four minutes to decide, with the first taking a look at whether the ball went out of play as Willock attempted to rescue it.
Bruno Guimaraes appeared to throw an elbow towards Arsenal midfielder Jorginho
It was then being checked whether Joelinton committed a foul on Gabriel as it appeared the Brazilian pushed his fellow countryman in the back.
After it was deemed that was not a foul, VAR tried to look at whether there was an offside as Gordon looked ahead of Joelinton.
However, it was confirmed that there was no conclusive angle that Joelinton made contact with the ball which means they didn’t know whether Gordon was offside.
The decision to allow the goal to stand was fiercely debated in the weeks that followed, after Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta labelled the incident as a ‘disgrace’.
The Arsenal boss said: ‘How the hell did this goal stand up? It’s incredible. I feel embarrassed. It’s an absolute disgrace that this was allowed. For many reasons it’s not a goal.’
Arsenal’s players were left stunned after officials allowed Newcastle’s winner to stand
Areteta said: ‘It’s so difficult to compete at this level. This is nowhere near the [refereeing] level to describe this as the best league in the world. I feel sick to be part of this.’
Arteta added in his post-match interviews: ‘The penalty on Eddie, there is a lot of things. The question is it’s not a goal, it’s simple. For a goal there are certainly things that are not allowed in football.
‘I have to stand here and explain, we lost three points. There’s too much at stake. It’s embarrassing. It’s not in their hands, I have to praise the players how they play here.
‘It’s incredible how they competed against this team, it makes me sick. I feel sick to be part of this.’
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