Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has provided a detailed explanation of the challenge on Christian Eriksen of Manchester United.
Recall that Arsenal’s five-game winning streak came to an end on September 3, 2022, against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
During the clash, Gabriel Martinelli was given a breakthrough after a brilliant pass from Bukayo Saka which led to what looked like Arsenal’s first-half goal against United.
However, the goal was disallowed by VAR because Martin Odegaard was found to have fouled Christian Eriksen during the buildup to the goal.
Odegaard won the ball from Eriksen, who then passed it to Saka, who let Martinelli through against helpless goalkeeper David de Gea. Unfortunately for Arsenal, the goal was disallowed.
In reaction to the controversial moment in the game, retired referee Dermot Gallagher told Sky Sports that the goal scored by Gabriel Martinelli for Arsenal was correctly disallowed.
Then came happy scenes that only served to infuriate fans once more. Odegaard was alleged to have fouled Eriksen by putting his knee in front of the Danish midfielder in what appeared to be a 50-50 contest, but the Arsenal captain felt differently, claiming that he didn’t foul Eriksen.
“I don’t think it’s ever a foul. It is extremely soft for me. You can always make it appear slightly worse on camera. It’s annoying”, he said.
However, Gallagher claimed that it is unmistakably a foul on Eriksen.
He continued, “Martin Odegaard shoved Christian Erikson in the back with his hands.”
Martin Odegaard, meanwhile, has argued that it was incorrect to reverse Gabriel Martinelli’s goal in Arsenal’s loss to Manchester United.
Martinelli sped past United’s defense to finish well into the far corner, but the restart was stopped as a brief scuffle between Odegaard and Christian Eriksen of United was investigated for a potential foul.
After a protracted discussion, it was decided that Odegaard had taken down Eriksen but not the ball, and the goal was chalked out by on-field referee Paul Tierney.
After that, United would score first, undermining Arsenal’s commanding start to the game, during which they eventually had 61 percent of the possession.
Despite playing well at times, Arsenal would ultimately lose the match. Marcus Rashford scored twice and Antony scored on his debut to help the Red Devils defeat Arsenal 3-1 canceling out Bukayo Saka’s equalizer in the second half.
“It’s never a foul, in my opinion,” Odegaard remarked. “It is quite soft for me. You can always make it appear slightly worse on camera. It’s annoying.
“They keep repeating that this is the Premier League and that it should be physical, but I hardly touched him. I don’t know how he can change his mind.”
Eriksen’s perspective of the incident was different, and his final statement perplexed observers. When questioned about his impressions of the game, Eriksen responded, “A good football game was played. Both sides were experiencing a lot of activity.”
