The form of Martin Odegaard has been cause for big debate of late. The Arsenal captain has struggled this season, most notably after picking up an ankle ligament injury in September.
While the club have primarily focused on the Champions League of late – with the second leg of their semi-final vs PSG to come this week – their consistency in the Premier League has been way off. As such, they now look as though they could potentially be dragged into a top-five race when second place looked all but certain.
Against Bournemouth, the Gunners and their captain struggled again. Odegaard actually set up the opener for Declan Rice, but that was as good as it got with the Cherries firing back with two unanswered second-half goals.
Dean Huijsen got the first before Evanilson controversially turned the ball in at the back post for the winner. It appeared as though he used an elbow to deflect his effort in, but the Premier League ruled it to be inconclusive, explaining: "The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with no conclusive evidence that Evanilson handled the ball before scoring."
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VAR Expert Dale Johnson Explained Odegaard Red Card Situation
Arsenal captain ran risk of conceding penalty
VAR expert Dale Johnson has since offered his explanation of the event for ESPN. He determined that Arsenal were unlucky not to have the call go their way, but as 'VAR isn't supposed to make interventions on probabilities, only certainties' it therefore wasn't in a strong enough position to overrule the on-field decision to award the goal.
His next comment will certainly catch the eye, though, as he then suggested that Odegaard was actually lucky that the goal was given. Indeed, had it been ruled out for handball, the midfielder may have conceded a penalty and picked up a consequential red card. Johnson wrote:
"It's worth noting that even if the VAR had decided there was a handball, there was a very strong case for a penalty for holding. Martin Odegaard, who was marking Evanilson, had turned his back and had no interest in challenging for the ball, only preventing the attacker from getting to it. The ball touching the arm of Evanilson would only be an offence leading to a goal, so the referee could have been sent to the screen to give a spot kick for Odegaard's actions. It would also have been a red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity."
It's been a tough time for Odegaard of late, and the last thing he would have wanted was to concede a red card and a penalty ahead of the club's make-or-break PSG tie. Still, a defeat against Bournemouth is hardly ideal preparation, whatever the circumstances.