Mikel Arteta insists technology is ‘not good enough’ after VAR was unable to conclusively rule on Tomas Soucek’s controversial opener… as Arsenal suffer title race blow to West Ham
- Arsenal suffered a blow in the title race after a 2-0 defeat at home to West Ham
- Soucek's opening goal stood as VAR could not determine whether the ball went out of bounds
- Watch out Liverpool and Arsenal! Man City are ready to do what they always do and hit top gear at this stage of the season – Listen to It all starts
Mikel Arteta hit another VAR single as Arsenal suffered a shock home defeat to West Ham, ruining their chance at top spot.
The result was David Moyes' first away win against the old 'big four' Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United – on the 73rd time of asking.
Tomas Soucek controversially opened the scoring in the first half, with VAR unable to determine whether the ball had gone out of bounds before Jarrod Bowen's cross.
Former Gunner Konstantinos Mavropanos doubled the lead after half-time to seal the win.
Gunners manager Arteta said: 'If the technology we have at the moment is not good enough to give us that answer (or the ball has gone out of bounds), without that we have to win the game.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta claimed technology is 'not good enough' after Tomas Soucek's goal
VAR was unable to determine whether the ball went out of bounds before Jarrod crossed Bowen for the opener
Soucek's goal was eventually awarded as West Ham secured a shock 2–0 win over Arsenal
'I have not seen it. They say it's not final. It's a shame that with the technology we have it's not so clear so we can tell if it's out or in.
'It's finished. It's gone. There's nothing we can do about it now.'
Arsenal, who scored 30 shots to West Ham's six, have now taken just four points in their last four league matches.
Moyes said on his historic night: 'It was a brilliant defensive job, great structure, organization and discipline. They had a lot of ball possession, too much for my taste, but we did a great job.
'Arsenal played incredibly well and put us under a lot of pressure, but we have to say that a lot of football is defensive. Sometimes you don't want to talk about it too much, but we did a really good job.
'Arsenal made their living here, remember. I thought we defended fantastically well.'
David Moyes praised West Ham's defensive performance after his first away win over a 'big four' team
On the VAR incident before Soucek's goal, he added: 'I hadn't even thought about it. I just got the response from the players that no one thought for one minute that there was anything wrong with the goal.
“It must have been close because of the time it took to decide.”
Moyes is out of contract at the end of the season and added: “We are getting ready to talk. I don't think any of us can get it done too quickly. I don't see any problems with that.'
