“In my opinion, it’s never a foul” – Martin Odegaard slams ‘frustrating’ VAR intervention that disallowed Arsenal’s opening goal at Manchester United

Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard, following the line of his manager Mikel Arteta, has slammed a 'frustrating' VAR decision after the loss against Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The decision cost the Gunners an opening goal by Gabriel Martinelli in the first half of the game after it was ruled out by VAR.

Gabriel Martinelli scored a beautiful goal in the 12th minute of the game after Martin Odegaard won the ball from midfield and Bukayo Saka played the Brazilian forward through on goal. However, the VAR check found Martin Odegaard guilty of committing a foul on Christen Eriksen while taking the ball.

The Gunners lost the game 3-1 to register their first loss of the Premier League season. Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag's renewed Manchester United took their winning streak to four straight games after losing two consecutive games at the start of the season.

Reacting to the VAR controversy after the game, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said that Martinelli's disallowed goal was 'difficult to accept' and accused the VAR referees of not being consistent with their decisions.

He said via Sky Sports:

"It's a lack of consistency. What is soft? Last week, they [Aston Villa] got a goal when there's a foul on Aaron [Ramsdale], but it's soft and it's not a foul. There were some strong tackles and no yellow cards because the threshold is low because it's a big game. It's really difficult to accept."

Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard believes that his challenge on Eriksen was not a foul and Martinelli's goal should have been counted.

He said:

"In my opinion, it's never a foul. The referee sees it and plays play on. It's a soft challenge and for VAR to come in it has to be clear and obvious. That's been said a lot of times. On the camera, you can always make it look a little bit worse, but, for me, that was never a foul so it's frustrating."

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Manchester United's new signing breaks into Premier League record books in his debut match against Arsenal

Manchester United's new signing Antony Santos scored in his debut Premier League game against Arsenal on Sunday to break into the record book. The 22-year-old Brazilian became the youngest player from his country to score a goal in his debut match in the top-tier English league.

The Red Devils signed Antony on a five-year deal worth £85 million from Ajax, following weeks of intense negotiations and the player himself pushing for an exit.