Michael Owen says it was ‘fair’ to overturn Leeds United’s late penalty and Gabriel’s red card during a dramatic Premier League tussle between Arsenal and Jesse Marsch’s side at Elland Road on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s side won the game 1-0, but it wasn’t short of its drama, stoppages, missed penalties and overturned decisions.
The match was delayed by 40 minutes because of a power outage, but the game didn’t lack electricity out on the pitch once it restarted because it was full-blown throughout.
Bukayo Saka put Arsenal ahead when he drilled home from a difficult angle in the first-half following Martin Odegaard’s brilliant through ball.
Before substitute Bamford was in the thick of it after the break, missing a penalty, before pushing Gabriel inside his own penalty box, with the Arsenal defender reacting by slightly kicking out at the player, with the Leeds striker then proceeding to go to ground.
That saw the on-field referee, consult with his linesman, send Gabriel off, and award a penalty, before VAR instructed Chris Kavanagh to overturn both of those calls, which he did and former England striker Owen agreed, as he told Premier League Productions (16/10/22 at 7:15 pm).
“Lots of VAR decisions, referees, sometimes it’s not their fault, sometimes, it’s just one of those weekends where they get a few decisions to make that might be tricky,” said Owen.
“I thought that was fair. It wasn’t a real forceful (kick). I did think that he tried to flick him with his foot, so it was probably fair, so yes, referees are in the headlines this weekend. Some right and some wrong calls, but overall, it has been very entertaining.”
LEEDS CAN TAKE COMFORT FROM ARSENAL PERFORMANCE
Arsenal are the best team in the Premier League, at this moment in time, and they are rightfully sitting at the top of the Premier League table.
Leeds should have got at least a point from the match and it’s a case of going again, and hoping luck will head their way.
If the Whites perform like they did against Arsenal, when they face Leicester and Fulham this week, then they have every chance of picking up that much-needed win.
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