Arsenal vs Manchester City sees a change of referee, as VAR is thrown under its biggest spotlight of the season
(Image credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Arsenal vs Manchester City takes place on Wednesday night – and the VAR for the game has been already been replaced.
Saturday saw drama at the Emirates Stadium, with the Gunners dropping two points after a dodgy offside call. Ivan Toney's equaliser for Brentford was scored despite a clear offside in the build-up that was missed.
Arsenal were one of a few teams to suffer from poor refereeing at the weekend (Image credit: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
As a result of the mistake at Selhurst Park, however, video assistant referee John Brooks will not be the VAR for Arsenal's clash with Manchester City this week.
John Brooks failed to draw the offside lines from the correct defender at the weekend, meaning that Brighton also dropped two points. His mistake has resulted in him being replaced by David Coote.
"PGMOL can confirm its Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb has contacted both Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion to acknowledge and explain the significant errors in the VAR process in their respective Premier League fixtures on Saturday," refereeing body PGMOL revealed after the weekend.
"Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed by PGMOL."
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Arsenal felt wronged following the weekend's mistake (Image credit: Getty Images)
Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.
