- Mikel Arteta was left furious with VAR after Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle last week
- He has admitted that the decision to send off Fabio Vieira for a high tackle was right
- DOMINIC KING: I don’t understand what football is anymore – It all comes to the surface
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has praised VAR for making the right decision to send off Fabio Vieira during his side’s win over Burnley
The Gunners returned to winning ways by beating Vincent Kompany’s side 3-1 a week later after their controversial defeat to Newcastle at St James’ Park.
Arteta went on a lengthy rant, describing the decision to award Anthony Gordon’s goal as ’embarrassing’ and a ‘disgrace’.
Fabio Vieira was sent off in the dying stages of the win over Burnley for a dangerous challenge on Josh Brownhill and Arteta praised the VAR.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Arsenal boss said: ‘With the red card yes, thank you for asking me, the VAR was right.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was full of praise for VAR after his side’s 3-1 win over Burnley
Fabio Vieira was sent off for a tackle on Josh Brownhill and Arteta says it was the right decision
Arteta’s comments come a week after she described Newcastle’s officiating as a ‘disgrace’
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‘The referee was right. Really good decision. Really positive for Mikel to speak positively about that. Yes, good decision’.
In the defeat at Newcastle, VAR debated Gordon’s goal for four minutes while checking whether the ball had initially gone out of play, an offside by Gordon and a foul on Gabriel.
After describing the decision to let the goal stand as ’embarrassing’ and ‘shame’, Arteta continued: ‘It’s not acceptable, there’s too much at stake. I don’t want to be in the hands of these people. I don’t know how to feel.
‘I’m wasting my time, we’re wasting our time. It’s hard enough competing against Newcastle – they’re a really good team, but we need to talk about how on earth this goal came about. It is an absolute shame that this is allowed. It should not be a goal for more than one reason.
“I’ve been in this country for over 20 years and (the refereeing) is nowhere near the level of the best league in the world. I feel sick to be part of this. I feel sick. It’s not a goal, it’s not a goal.’
Arsenal subsequently released a statement in support of Arteta after ‘further unacceptable refereeing and VAR errors’.
The Gunners responded to the setback by overtaking north London rivals Tottenham into second place in the Premier League thanks to goals from Leandro Trossard, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko against Burnley on Saturday.