Why Arsenal had four handball appeals turned down against Bournemouth

By Sunday morning, Arsenal’s breathless 3-2 victory over Bournemouth the afternoon before will be remembered for the left-footed belter Reiss Nelson thrashed into the top corner in 97th minute.

Philip Billing may be afforded a footnote for kicking the contest off with the second-fastest goal in Premier League history. But Marcos Senesi’s header, Thomas Partey’s tap-in and Ben White’s equaliser will already be fading into the background.

However, had Nelson not produced a strike quite so sweet, Arsenal fans may have been trudging away from the Emirates Stadium with just one point to savour while questioning the intervention – or lack thereof – from VAR once again.

Just three weeks ago, the VAR acting on Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brentford failed to spot that Christian Norgaard had strayed offside before teeing up the visitors’ equaliser. While none of the non-decisions against Bournemouth were bad enough to lose John Brooks his job, a fate Lee Mason suffered after the Brentford debacle, they were certainly contentious.

Here’s everything you need to know about the four separate handball appeals Arsenal had waved away against Bournemouth.

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Arsenal fell behind to Billing’s opener within ten seconds but dominated possession and territory thereafter. Bournemouth did well to blunt their hosts in the first half but were helped by a kind eye from VAR after half an hour.

Bournemouth’s Chris Mepham jumped with Fabio Vieira for a header but missed the ball, letting it drop on his outstretched arm inside the penalty box before hurriedly clearing.

According to the latest laws of the game, which clearly outline that any part of the arm below the bottom of the armpit cannot be used, the ball landed on an illegal part of Mepham’s body.

The defender may have made his body “unnaturally bigger” but VAR clearly deemed that the position of his arm was “a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation”. Essentially, the act of jumping forced his arm out where it was struck by the ball.

Senesi put Bournemouth 2-0 up after half-time but Thomas Partey and Ben White hauled Arsenal level with 20 minutes to play. Shortly after the equaliser, Bukayo Saka performed a remarkable piece of wriggling skill to sneak towards the byline, blasting the ball back into a crowded six-yard box.

At the front of the queue was Jack Stephens. Bournemouth’s central centre-back deflected Saka’s cutback onto the post but appeared to lean into the ball with his arm. Saka immediately appealed for a penalty, slapping his own limb fiercely in the direction of the referee but neither the on-pitch official nor his video-assisted colleagues paid much attention.

This incident – which may not have been examined by VAR – is more complicated as the ball strikes the t-shirt line of Stephens’ arm, just on the cusp of whether it could be deemed handball.

Furthermore, Stephens shifts his whole weight towards the ball rather than sticking out an elbow and so could make a reasonable argument that he didn’t make himself “unnaturally bigger”. Either way, Stephens didn’t have to state his case as Saka’s appeals fell on deaf ears.

Arsenal continued to pile the pressure on Bournemouth, registering 30 shots by the final whistle – the most of any team in a single Premier League match this season. Two of those efforts appeared to be blocked by the arms of Bournemouth defenders in rapid succession.

Martin Odegaard was responsible for 11 of Arsenal’s attempts, five of which struck a Bournemouth defender before reaching the net. Senesi, as the above image on the left shows, diverted one of these efforts away from goal with his right arm.

This is perhaps the most egregious overlooked decision for Arsenal as the defender clearly makes his body “unnaturally bigger” in an attempt to stop Odegaard from scoring. VAR may have deemed that this was not a clear and obvious error but Arsenal would certainly have been arguing that it was had Nelson not rescued the Gunners at the death.

Gabriel Magalhaes had the second effort in the 80th minute. Forward for a corner, the deceptively prolific centre-back nudged a header towards goal which Billing quite literally palmed away. There is nothing in the laws which allows for self-preservation, which may have been in Billing’s mind with a ball flying towards his face, but the Dane may have escaped punishment because of the close proximity to Gabriel’s initial effort.

In the end, VAR’s inaction didn’t cost Arsenal on Saturday afternoon – this time.