Ex-African POTY insists VAR was right to disallow Martinelli's goal against Man Utd

Former African Footballer of the Year Victor Ikpeba on Monday evening weighed into the subject of Arsenal's disallowed goal in the Gunners' 3-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday evening.

Ikpeba while speaking on Monday Night Football, the football magazine programme on Supersport that takes a look at all things Nigerian, English and Spanish football says the supposed goal scored by Gabriel Martinelli was rightly called off due to an infringement in the buildup.

Prior to Martinelli's canceled goal, captain  Martin Ødegaard shoved Danish midfield sensation Christian Eriksen to the ground and that has ramped up opinions.

"This situation is a phase. If you allowed play to continue, why revisit it?" Ikpeba who was a former player of Ligie 1 side, AS Monaco when former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was in charge of the Principality outfit said.

"It's very obvious that there was a foul on Eriksen. You want to tell me that Eriksen was playing towards it? Don't you see the hands, the pushing,"

However despite Ikpeba's view about the outcome of the Video Assistant referee, he went on to acknowledge that the goal by Martinelli was a quality strike.

"It was a great finish by Martinelli but there was a foul on Eriksen by Odegaard," the onetime Borussia Dortmund star who was voted Africa's best player in 1997 concluded.

Arsenal are still atop the league standing after six Premier League games this season with five wins and the defeat against Erik ten Hag’s team.

The Gunners' next league fixture is against Alex Iwobi's Everton at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, September 11.

Izuchukwu Michael

Photo Credit : arsenal.com

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