Martinelli offside 'biggest VAR decision of season' – but Arteta 'won't cry'

Arsenal’s late disallowed goal for a Gabriel Martinelli offside is the “biggest VAR decision of the season so far”, says Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp.

With the score at 1-1, Bukayo Saka sparked scenes of wild celebration when he headed home from Martinelli’s cross in the 88th minute – but a VAR review showed the latter was offside in the build-up and the goal was ruled out.

The game ended level at Craven Cottage, with Arsenal missing a big chance to go four points behind Liverpool in the Premier League table. The Reds’ game against Everton on Saturday was postponed due to adverse weather conditions.

Discussing the late drama and the impact it could have on the title race, Redknapp told Super Sunday: “What a weekend for Liverpool. Man City dropping points, Arsenal dropping points and they’ve got themselves into an even better position.

“Arne Slot would have had his heart in his mouth watching those final few minutes and the biggest VAR decision of the season so far.

“It was absolutely incredible but Martinelli just had to keep himself offside.”

Fellow Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson was scathing of Marinelli himself, adding: “He is offside, but in footballing terms, that’s criminal from Martinelli.

“You cannot be offside. You’re looking along the line. He’s got pace, so he’s not someone who is trying to nick a yard and play right on the edge.

“I’d be surprised if he isn’t on the end of one in the dressing room by the manager because even he knows. You could see it on his face after, he knows you can’t do that.

“One thing when you look along that line – do not be offside. It’s as simple as that.”

Merson: Advantage Liverpool in title race

Former Arsenal forward Merson also believes the draw is a damaging result for Arsenal, and that they must be winning at Craven Cottage to lift the league title.

“It’s not a good result,” he said. “It’s two points dropped. They were just hitting a little bit of a run and it was a nightmare at the end with the disallowed goal.

“They needed to win this match. Advantage Liverpool.

“Arsenal could’ve gone four [points behind Liverpool] and that would’ve been a huge advantage for them.

“Now, Liverpool have a game in hand and it’s a bad result. It is not an easy place to go, but if you want to win Premier League titles, you have to win at Craven Cottage.”

Arteta: We cannot cry about result

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was keen to point out the positives of his side’s performance despite a draw, adding that he does not want players to feel sorry for themselves.

He told a post-match press conference: “I’m gutted that we didn’t win it, because I think we deserved to win from the beginning to the end. We did almost everything that we had to do to win it.

“But this is the quality of the opposition, with one chance they score a goal. And then the margins of the league as well. For millimetres, we could have been sitting here with three points after a really strong and dominant performance against a really good team.

“You cannot cry about it. That’s the beauty of this league too. The beauty of this team too is how they are able to play today, even in these circumstances and against good opposition. I’m really happy for that.

“We had a really good performance against a really good side. Normally you don’t see these kinds of games here.

“Now we have to continue to improve and look at what we can do better so that the opposition have zero chances to win the game. That’s the objective.”

Fulham manager Marco Silva added to Sky Sports: “We had a plan and the first thing is to praise the players for their commitment and stuck with it. It’s difficult performance-wise because on the ball wasn’t the game we like to play normally.

“After the early goal, Arsenal started to press us in a different way, they went more one-on-one situations. The weather conditions were not good as well, which isn’t an excuse, but it created a few problems for us to play how we like to normally on the ball.”