FA's Rules Reveal Anthony Taylor Made The Correct Decision Over Spurs' Penalty Against Arsenal

The Football Association's rules have supported referee Anthony Taylor's decision to award a penalty to Tottenham Hotspur against Arsenal on Saturday.

Four Spurs players were in an offside position when Christian Eriksen took the free-kick, only for Shkodran Mustafi to foul Harry Kane and for the referee to point to the spot.

While Gunners fans were in outrage over the decision, the FA's rules confirm that Taylor was in the right over his decision.

According to the FA, the laws state that if "a player in an offside position is moving towards the ball with the intention of playing the ball and is fouled before playing or attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball, the foul is penalised as it has occurred before the offside offence."

Sure, that might have cleared up that part of the argument, but it's not certain that Arsenal fans will agree with it.

Aaron Ramsey, who will leave the Gunners in the summer for Juventus, made his mark in his final north London derby after he opened the scoring in the first half.

Kane would equalise for Spurs in the second half from the spot kick, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang failed to snatch a victory for Arsenal after he missed his penalty late on.

Despite the fact that Spurs have dropped important points -- they are only three points clear of Manchester United and four points ahead of Arsenal -- Mauricio Pochettino said that he was happy with his side's performance.

"I am so happy because we didn't deserve to lose the game -- we were better than them, so it would be a shame to lose the game in that way," he told BBC Sport.

"I am happy with the performance, it was a tough game and difficult to play Arsenal but I am happy after two defeats to take a positive result to build confidence for Tuesday, to go to Borussia Dortmund and go through to the next stage of the Champions League."

Can Dortmund make a comeback against Spurs?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports

Topics: Spurs, Football News, gunners, Tottenham Hotspur, Football, Premier League, FA, Arsenal, Shkodran Mustafi, Anthony Taylor, Harry Kane

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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