'It's crazy' - Peter Schmeichel slams controversial Arsenal VAR decision that was 'wrong on so many levels'

Peter Schmeichel slammed the officials' inconsistency that contributed to Arsenal's controversial win over West Ham in the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta's side took another step towards the league title after they held on to secure a precious 1-0 victory at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Leandro Trossard scored the only goal of the game, as Callum Wilson saw a dramatic equaliser ruled out following a lengthy VAR check.

Wilson looked to have rescued a valuable point in West Ham's fight for survival when he slammed the ball over the line, only for the goal to be controversially ruled out after it went to video review. It was decided that Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya had been fouled in his initial attempt to win the ball, a call that polarised opinion among supporters.

While there was a wide acknowledgement that the melee impacted Raya in the box, plenty of fans felt that similar scenarios go unpunished most weeks, particularly in favour of Arsenal and their ability to score so many set-piece goals.

That was certainly the thought of former Manchester United and Man City goalkeeper Schmeichel, who could not believe that the goal was awarded.

"What really makes me angry is that Arsenal would never be top of the league if that’s a free-kick," the Dane said on Viaplay. "That’s how they’ve scored so many goals, by blocking people, holding people, doing all kinds of things.

"And then we get to this point, it takes VAR five minutes, Darren England the VAR, it takes five minutes. He starts it over again and starts it over again and again… that in itself puts so much doubt into that decision that it cannot be a free-kick.

"I think it’s so wrong. I just don’t understand why all of a sudden that’s a free-kick, because it’s not been for any teams all the way throughout the season. All this, it’s just crazy. And that decision today, it’s just so wrong on so many levels."