Arsenal needed a late goal and an even later, dramatic VAR call to stay in control of the Premier League title race on Sunday.
A 1-0 win over relegation-threatened West Ham restored Arsenal’s five-point lead over second-place Manchester City and came with a huge dose of controversy.
Leading thanks to Leandro Trossard’s 83rd-minute goal, Arsenal looked like it would be throwing away two crucial points — and losing its slim advantage in the title race — when West Ham substitute Callum Wilson lashed a shot over the line following a corner in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Arsenal’s players complained and there was a long video review, which spotted West Ham player Pablo had his left arm across the face of David Raya as the Arsenal goalkeeper attempted to get to the ball after the corner was swung in.
The referee, Chris Kavanagh, looked at the incident on the pitchside monitor and chose to rule out the goal.
“I saw the replay now,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said, “and I think it’s an obvious decision.”
West Ham’s players felt aggrieved, with Tomas Soucek complaining that video reviews were only brought in to look for “big errors.”
“For football, this is a disappointing moment,” Soucek said, “and for every fan this is not what we want — we want goals, we want celebrations. Not to wait 10 minutes for a small foul.”
West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen added: “I get that you can’t wipe a goalkeeper out and there’s arms there but the keeper’s come out to try and grab the ball so … he’s got to expect some contact. It’s a corner kick, it’s physical, it’s the Premier League — there’s going to be contact and tussles.”
It was a big call with huge ramifications.
It left Arsenal two wins from a first league title since 2004, with games to come at home to already-relegated Burnley and, in the final round, away to a Crystal Palace team that might field a weakened lineup due to having the Conference League final three days later.
It also left West Ham a point adrift of safety, in third-to-last place with two games remaining, while guaranteeing another season in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest and Leeds.
Fourth-to-last Tottenham can move four points clear of West Ham with a win over Leeds on Monday. It’s now a two-team fight for survival between West Ham and Tottenham.
Man City’s chances fade
It was a huge blow to City, which has three games left — against Palace at home on Wednesday, Bournemouth away on May 19 and Aston Villa at home on the final day.
Even three wins might not be enough for City to pull off a seventh title success in Pep Guardiola’s 10-year reign.
Arsenal is still in sight of a Premier League- Champions League double, having reached the final of Europe’s top competition against Paris Saint-Germain on May 30.
For Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, beating West Ham under so much pressure was a “big moment for us.”
“We had to dig deep — to try and try and try — and we got there in the end,” he said.
Villa not sure of top-five spot yet
Aston Villa still has work to do to secure Champions League qualification after being held 2-2 at already-relegated Burnley.
That kept Villa in fifth place, behind Liverpool on goal difference and four points above sixth-place Bournemouth in the race to finish in the top five and get into Europe’s top competition.
All three teams have two games left, with Villa and Bournemouth still having to play Man City.
Villa’s players have another possible route into next season’s Champions League: By winning the Europa League.
If they do that and finish fifth in the league, then the team that places sixth — currently Bournemouth, though Brighton is only two points further back — would also qualify.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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