Well it is historic. Apparently it is the first time, in the PL, a ref has rejected the VAR advice at the monitor to give a red card.

You could tell by the number of times the ref watched the replay that he was looking for a reason not to send him off.

2 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Isn't that against the rules though? Should either be a red or nothing. 

Nope. It's the ref on the field that has the final say. It's very rare to see them not go with VAR though.

10 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Well it is historic. Apparently it is the first time, in the PL, a ref has rejected the VAR advice at the monitor to give a red card.

Who'd have guessed that we'd be on the end of a 'historic' refereeing decision?

12 hours ago, dansubrosa said:

I guess they can start doing it more regularly then, since it’s only a booking offence.

Great precedent they’ve set there. Clowns.

Yes, a whack in the face and a hair pull is not violent now. Just reckless. 

Do we really feel these decisions even out.. Just most things in life i think it is doesnt. When we were among the top dogs - i think we often got the benefit, since no ref wanted to create controversy. In the last few years i have seen some horrendous decisions against us.. especially when playing Pool & City. The last few games though have been nothing short of a scandal if i am honest. the high tackles, penalties missed and given- Var reversals. I want to say that players should do better but these things also matter. 

Time to bump this thread after last night.

I know there are those who will say VAR got the decisions correct. But at what cost?

Think Ange talked for most of us when he moaned about VAR after the game and how refs aren't allow to ref the game properly now. Of course he looked a complete idiot because the Spurs goal was rightly chalked off and the only wonder was why it took so long to arrive at the decision.

With our offside it was really poor and part ruined the game for me. Great goal and no flag and I didn't see any Spurs players appealing for offside so why even go to VAR? And it was still inconclusive after 6 minutes looking at it, so why disallow what looked like a perfectly good goal?

VAR is here to stay however much we all moan about it but they HAVE to improve how it is used and give the overall control back to the ref. It really shouldn't be that difficult.

I would say if it's so close that you need to lay down lines on a monitor and watch it 15 times then it not offsides. Are they looking to justify VAR? It seems like they over rule the most un-obvious calls and back the refs on most of the very obvious and controversial ones.

The problem is still with the biased people running VAR.

I was just watching the Champions league highlights from last night's games. Are the rules for red cards different for UEFA than PL?

The Bentancur challenge or Reece on Saturday was only given as a yellow. But on review, the Brennan Johnson tackle last night was given as a red, citing dangerous play. I think the Bentancur challenge is worse - similar position on the leg, more force in the challenge, definitely dangerous play to me. How can one be a red and one a yellow? I don't buy the "one is slide tackle and the other is upright" in real time, there was way more force in the Bentancur challenge.

I also think the Diaz red card last night for Bayern was soft, definitely by comparison. He didn't even make contact with his feet!

22 minutes ago, Shweaves said:

I was just watching the Champions league highlights from last night's games. Are the rules for red cards different for UEFA than PL?

The Bentancur challenge or Reece on Saturday was only given as a yellow. But on review, the Brennan Johnson tackle last night was given as a red, citing dangerous play. I think the Bentancur challenge is worse - similar position on the leg, more force in the challenge, definitely dangerous play to me. How can one be a red and one a yellow? I don't buy the "one is slide tackle and the other is upright" in real time, there was way more force in the Bentancur challenge.

I also think the Diaz red card last night for Bayern was soft, definitely by comparison. He didn't even make contact with his feet!

UEFA and PL interpretations differ in almost every regard from red cards to hand ball. UEFA much more strict. Last night Arsenal earned a penalty v Slavia Prague because the ball slid off a defender's head onto his arm. Wouldn't have been given in the PL.

Remember when we were told early on tat VAR would never have a big impact on seasons, its just there to get the small things right....hows that going then....

It’s managed to destroy the PL & SPL title race in the space of 3 days. What a sh*t misused piece of technology.

Beats me how the ball rocketed out of play if it only came off his hand.

On 14/05/2026 at 08:12, dkw said:

Remember when we were told early on tat VAR would never have a big impact on seasons, its just there to get the small things right....hows that going then....

Terribly

they are all cowards they are never going to go against the current champions and pep.. we used to get decisions like this in the past and now the shoe is on the other foot.. these are all c**ts and basically undertrained cowards..

Data just released by the VAR Key incidents panel. Our benefits from decisions were nothing compared to what Arsenal got away with. Full data is on BBC Sport.

""Arsenal and Chelsea were the biggest beneficiaries of video assistant referee and on-field errors this season.

Mikel Arteta's Gunners won the Premier League while becoming the first team to go the whole campaign without receiving a red card or conceding a penalty.

But data logged by the Premier League's key match incidents (KMI) panel shows that Arsenal should have conceded three penalties and received three red cards.

In total, Arsenal had seven referee mistakes in their favour, while London rivals Chelsea gained from eight""

1 hour ago, The Rising Sun said:

Data just released by the VAR Key incidents panel. Our benefits from decisions were nothing compared to what Arsenal got away with. Full data is on BBC Sport.

""Arsenal and Chelsea were the biggest beneficiaries of video assistant referee and on-field errors this season.

Mikel Arteta's Gunners won the Premier League while becoming the first team to go the whole campaign without receiving a red card or conceding a penalty.

But data logged by the Premier League's key match incidents (KMI) panel shows that Arsenal should have conceded three penalties and received three red cards.

In total, Arsenal had seven referee mistakes in their favour, while London rivals Chelsea gained from eight""

Would be good to know how many went against us too.. I doubt many went against Arsenal.. some stonewalled penalties missed and red cards never given.

10 hours ago, Jangz said:

Would be good to know how many went against us too.. I doubt many went against Arsenal.. some stonewalled penalties missed and red cards never given.

Yes. There's tons of data released by the panel, I haven't bothered to look through it all, it's probably in there somewhere. Can't remember which team it is, but there's one who suffered the most from wrong decisions in the data.

I hope they don't let Arsenal get away with their nonsense tonight