Arsenal take action against Pro Ref as body comes under fire after Manchester derby VAR controversy

Arsenal are reportedly set to take action by contacting Pro Ref over a decision made during the Gunners’ 2-0 win over Sunderland.

Pro Ref has already come under scrutiny this weekend following Erling Haaland’s controversial winning goal in the Manchester derby.

Haaland’s strike, which saw City win 1-0 despite playing most of the match with ten men following Phil Foden’s sending-off, was initially ruled out on the field before the decision was overturned, as Patrick Dorgu was playing him onside.

The decision left fans, pundits and United’s players confused, as City midfielder Enzo Fernandez made a clear attempt to play the ball without making contact.

Pro Ref later released a bombshell statement admitting an “error of judgement”.

The statement read: “Following the incident in the 60th minute of Sunday’s Premier League fixture between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford, we can provide clarification regarding Erling Haaland’s awarded goal.

“The on-field decision was offside against Erling Haaland – that was checked by VAR and he was found to be in an onside position.

“In the same attack, it was established that Enzo Fernandez did not play the ball and therefore that makes any offside offence subjective, however, on this occasion, the VAR did not recognise the likely impact of his position and should have recommended an on-field review.

“Contact has been made with Manchester United this evening to acknowledge what we deem is an error of judgement. A review of the incident will take place.”

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Arsenal set to take action over controversial decision

And it’s not just Man United who feel hard done by a refereeing decision after gameweek four, as Arsenal are reportedly set to contact Pro Ref and its chief refereeing officer, Howard Webb, over the awarding of a penalty to Sunderland, according to journalist Henry Winter.

On X, he wrote: “Arsenal to get in contact with Howard Webb and Pro Ref today over the Sunderland penalty awarded against Ezri Konsa when it appeared more a judo roll by Dan Ballard. It didn’t ultimately affect the result as David Raya made a brilliant save from Enzo Le Fee, and Bruno Guimaraes and Bukayo Saka scored in an Arsenal win. Interesting if they mention to Webb the controversial goal in the Manchester Derby. That’s, arguably, a more damaging decision for Arsenal this weekend from a title race perspective than the judo roll.”

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta made his feelings clear about the awarding of the penalty during a post-match press conference on Saturday (September 12), branding the call “unacceptable”.

He said: “Sunderland are so well organised, they are so good in so many phases, they have great players and they create a lot of issues. We have to cope with all of that in a really difficult week.

“And on top of that, we have to go through what we have done today, that, in my opinion, is not acceptable.

“I watched it 20 times and I cannot find a way to understand how they think to give a penalty in that situation, or the way the VAR has to intervene.

“So I don’t know what to think.

“I’m sad that we have to discuss this after such a beautiful game, that at this level, has the gravity of that. Because that changes the course of the season and it can cost you the championship.

“At this level, with all the work we put in, this cannot happen.”

Arsenal return to action away at Ipswich Town in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday (September 15).