VAR intervenes to overturn penalty call during Fulham vs Arsenal as announcement made

Arsenal saw a penalty against Fulham be over-ruled after Premier League referee Anthony Taylor consulted VAR. The north Londoners were holding onto a fragile 1-0 lead at Craven Cottage at the time.

Mikel Arteta thought his side were about to double their lead when Kevin brought down Bukayo Saka in the penalty area. Taylor initially pointed to the sport, adjudging the Fulham star to have fouled the England international.

However, when given a second look, he saw Kevin made contact with the ball as Saka cut inside and deemed the challenge to be fair, despite the frustrations of Arsenal players and Arteta.

"After review, number 22 makes a challenge and plays the ball therefore no foul is committed," Taylor said when announcing the decision over the Craven Cottage PA system. "No penalty, restart with a drop ball from the goalkeeper."

Another explanation was also given to fans by the Premier League Match Centre X page. They tweeted: "After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of penalty to Arsenal."

Arsenal took the lead in the second half through Leandro Trossard . The Belgian was in the right place at the right time, after Gabriel Magalhaes flicked on an in-swinging corner into the ex-Brighton and Hove Albion star's path.

The Gunners were in control of the match after Trossard's close range finish. The decision to reverse the penalty call was the loudest cheer the home fans emitted in west London.

Former Arsenal goalkeeper and now Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno was almost single-handedly keeping the home side in the contest. As the match trickled into added time, Viktor Gyokeres turn and lashed a close-range shot which was saved by the German, who quickly recovered and saved a rebound from Gabriel Martinelli.

Arteta's side needed a victory to move three points ahead of Manchester City . Pep Guardiola's side moved into second place after a brace from Erling Haaland saw them overcome Everton .

Before the international break, Arsenal leap-frogged Liverpool for the first time since September. The defending Premier League champions were knocked off their perch after they lost 2-1 away to Chelsea and Arsenal beat West Ham 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

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