Arsenal fans vented their fury once more after Tottenham defender Micky Van de Ven escaped a red card despite committing a foul as the last man.
Midway through the second half, Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta headed the ball into the path of Ismaila Sarr, who had to beat Van de Ven in a footrace to reach it.
Given Van de Ven clocked the fastest speed of any player in the Premier League this season, most would have backed the Dutchman to get to the ball first.
However, Sarr showed blistering pace to beat his rival to the ball and had the goal in his sights.
But just as Sarr looked to get away, Van de Ven brought him down from approximately 30 yards away to the goal.
Despite being the last man and with no defenders around him, VAR opted not to look further into Van de Ven’s incident as he escaped with only a yellow card.
According to the FA’s laws, referees have four criteria to consider when it comes to determining if a player has denied the opposition an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Referees must assess the distance between the foul and the goal, the general direction of play, the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball as well as the location of the foul and number of defenders involved.
Although Tottenham still had 11 men on the pitch, it mattered little to the result as Palace secured their first win of the season with a 1-0 victory thanks to Mateta’s strike in the 31st minute.
However, the result did not stop Arsenal fans weighing in on Van de Ven’s foul given William Saliba was sent off for a strikingly similar incident against Bournemouth last Saturday.
Saliba initially copped a yellow card when he hauled down Cherries striker Evanilson in the centre circle but the foul was soon upgraded to a red by VAR.
It meant the French superstar was ruled out of Arsenal’s crunch clash against Liverpool.
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One fan wrote on X: “Make it make sense. William Saliba vs Micky Van de Ven. Inconsistency of decisions is embarrassing.”
Another posted: “So Van de Ven just did what Saliba did last week and got a yellow.”
One supporter said: “VAR changed Saliba’s to red card and left Van de Ven as a yellow, which one was closer to goal?”
Van de Ven’s contentious foul isn’t the only one that had Arsenal fans in uproar this season.
Chelsea defender Tosin Adarabioyo produced a similar foul to Saliba’s during last weekend’s 2-1 loss to Liverpool.
Adarabioyo was caught out by a long ball over the top intended for Liverpool star Diogo Jota.
As Jota looked to breeze past, Adarabioyo got into a tangle with the Reds forward and brought him down to the ground just beyond the halfway line.
Despite the Chelsea centre-back being the last man, he escaped with only a yellow card from referee John Brooks.
