Premier League make announcement on controversial Arsenal vs Tottenham incident
Tottenham had a rotten start to their match against Arsenal on Sunday as they went 2-0 behind at the Emirates just before half-time.
While Arsenal were predicted to overcome Tottenham before the game, it was an embarrassing showing in the first period, with Spurs not even managing a shot.
The lack of attacking intent was then punished by the Gunners, as they quickly found the net twice at the end of the first half.
Leandro Trossard netted the opener after a big deflection, with Eberechi Eze, who was linked to Tottenham in the summer, putting Arsenal 2-0 up five minutes later.
However, this was a controversial moment in the match, with an argument to be had that Guglielmo Vicario’s vision was blocked by some Arsenal players.
VAR deemed no Arsenal players in the line of vision of the goalkeeper
Arsenal’s second was a suckerpunch for the visitors, and put Spurs in a terrible position at half-time.
However, there was an argument to be had that Eze’s goal should have been disallowed.
Several Arsenal players were offside when the midfielder struck the ball, with many believing that they were blocking Vicario’s vision and therefore hindering his ability to make the save.
#ARSTOT – 41’
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) November 23, 2025
The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that there were no Arsenal players in the line of vision of the goalkeeper, and they made no movement to impact an opponent while in an offside position.
However, the Premier League Match Centre on X on 23 November has since confirmed VAR deemed the incident not to have impacted Spurs.
Thomas Frank got it all wrong against Arsenal
Tottenham’s first half performance will be rightly criticised by the media.
Spurs had already been blasted for their lack of attacking intent against Chelsea, and a repeat of this occured at the Emirates.
Tottenham did not lay a glove on the Gunners, and were rightly behind at the break, with Frank showing no amibition to beat Arsenal in his first North London derby.
It was always a risk to play a five-at-the-back against a side who were dominating the Premier League, and Frank’s tactics were completely shown up on Sunday.
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