Howard Webb defends VAR call after Mikel Arteta's anger and Premier League statement
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Howard Webb has backed Anthony Taylor's controversial penalty decision that cost Arsenal at Brighton last weekend. The referee penalised William Saliba after a clash of heads with Seagulls forward Joao Pedro. The on-field decision was then ratified by VAR officials in Stockley Park, with the Gunners left furious.
Pedro scored from the spot on the hour mark following the incident, which has divided opinion. The Arsenal centre-half and the Brighton forward both looked to head the ball, with the latter appearing to make the initial contact. The ball was headed onto Saliba, but in his follow through he made contact with Pedro's head, resulting in him going down. Mikel Arteta was left fuming and claimed he'd never seen a penalty given for that offence.
And PGMOL chief Webb admits the situation was an unusual one - but didn't argue against the awarding of a penalty as he explained the thought process on Match Officials Mic'd Up. He said: "I can't think of something like this - that doesn't mean it wrong - it means its unusual. What you see is two players going towards a ball in the air, Pedro flicks it up, he and Saliba go to head it, Pedro heads it onto Saliba's head, Saliba doesn't head it, but then continues onto the head of Pedro. So he gets there late on Pedro and he goes down.
"So it is a late contact by a player who hasn't played the ball himself and Pedro goes down in the penalty area. So when you break it down in that way it is a foul, and I know it has split opinion.". Immediately after the penalty was given, the Premier League released a statement detailing why the whistle was blown. It read: “The referee’s call of penalty for a foul by Saliba on João Pedro was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed there was sufficient contact for a penalty.”.
