Tottenham and Arsenal play the North London derby against each other
Tottenham and Arsenal play the North London derby against each other

Ex-FIFA official claims Arsenal goal v Tottenham should have been disallowed, 'Obvious'

Noel Egan

Noel Egan is Birmingham-born former referee who has previously been licensed by FIFA and officiated games in CONCACAF tournaments, Olympics qualifiers and FIFA World Cup qualifiers. After learning his trade, Egan moved to Antigua & Barbuda where he's coached in their Premier League and also trained referees.

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Noel Egan was surprised not to see VAR intervene after Gabriel scored for Arsenal against Tottenham.

The ex-FIFA official claims he would have given a foul to Cristian Romero in the build-up to the Gunners' decisive goal.

Gabriel appeared to push Romero before heading home from a corner as Arsenal claimed a 1-0 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (15 September).

And Egan - speaking exclusively to Tottenham News - was surprised not to see VAR get involved.

"I would not have been surprised if the goal had been ruled out," Egan said.

"In my opinion, just the smallest bit of contact when a player is about to jump can throw his timing off completely. When I was refereeing I would be watching for things like that and would give the decisions to the defender.

"There was a push from Gabriel on Romero. Yes, it wasn't strong, but clearly, the defender thought there was enough contact on him.

"He could be seen turning and calling for a foul after Gabriel was left with a free header. To me, this is a strange one, it is a North London derby and you could argue that the push was soft.

"However, the push did occur, and it allowed Gabriel a free header. I have to say that I thought that would at least be reviewed by VAR. However, Romero seemed to be the only player calling for a foul, maybe that is because it was so obvious.

"When I saw it I thought that push should have lead to the goal being disallowed."

Ange Postecoglou unlucky as Arsenal goal stands against Tottenham?

Over the years, the North London derby has often been a fixture full of goals.

However, in the two rivals' most recent encounter, Gabriel's header was enough to settle the contest.

Romero will no doubt feel as though he should have had a foul against him, and the Argentinian does have a case for that.

Tottenham defender Cristian Romero
Cristian Romero is a popular player at Tottenham. (Credit: Imago)

However, ultimately Tottenham didn't do enough to warrant winning the match. Therefore, Postecoglou and his players will need to take a long hard look in the mirror and find some form fast.

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