Eberechi Eze fired Arsenal to a 4-1 win over Tottenham, but the first of his three goals should have been ruled out for offside, according to Alan Shearer and Micah Richards
Jake Stokes
12:57, 24 Nov 2025Updated 13:13, 24 Nov 2025
Alan Shearer on Match of the Day
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Alan Shearer believes Eberechi Eze's first of three goals in the north London derby should have been ruled out(Image: BBC)
Alan Shearer has hammered the match officials for failing to disallow Eberechi Eze's first of three goals in the north London derby.
The 27-year-old midfielder doubled Arsenal's lead over Tottenham Hotspur shortly before half-time, smashing the ball through a crowd of players into the bottom corner.
Despite their efforts, neither Micky van de Ven nor Kevin Danso managed to get in the way of Eze's strike. Martin Zubimendi and Leandro Trossard were also in the firing line and stood in an offside position, but they weren't deemed to have impacted play or obstructed Guglielmo Vicario's view.
Michael Oliver subsequently allowed the goal to stand. Video Assistant Referee Stuart Attwell and his colleague Constantine Hatzidakis examined the incident at Stockley Park, backing the referee's original verdict.
Alongside Gary Lineker and Micah Richards on The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer criticised the match officials, suggesting they were 'petrified' to make the right decision. The Newcastle United legend said: "This first one should have been offside.
Eberechi Eze scored a controversial goal for Arsenal against Tottenham with three of his team-mates seemingly offside and in Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario's line of sight
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Eberechi Eze scored a controversial goal for Arsenal against Tottenham with three of his team-mates seemingly offside and in Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario's line of sight(Image: Sky Sports)
"I don't know what you think, Micah. I just honestly think that the referees and the VAR have got themselves in such a pickle with this situation. I thought they were petrified to give the correct decision.
"He should have been offside. There's no way those guys in front of him weren't directly in the line of sight of the goalkeeper. Therefore, it was clearly offside."
Referencing Virgil van Dijk's disallowed goal for Liverpool against Manchester City before the international break when Andy Robertson ducked under the ball in an offside position, Shearer continued: "Yet because of what's gone on, with the Forest goal, with what happened with Liverpool at Man City, they were petrified of making the decision, and they just panicked and they got the wrong decision."
Shearer continued: "It was a good job it didn't make that much of a difference but, if it had, then you could imagine the backfire that would have happened. It was offside, but it was still a great strike."
Virgil van Dijk cut a frustrated figure after he was denied an equaliser against Manchester City
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Virgil van Dijk cut a frustrated figure after he was denied an equaliser against Manchester City(Image: Getty Images)
Richards also criticised the match officials. The former Man City defender said: "We keep saying; 'Consistency' and all those things, but it either is (offside) or it isn't. If someone's in front of the goalkeeper - the one against Man City with [Virgil] van Dijk, that should have stood, shouldn't it?
"But, someone made an obvious attempt to play the ball, so you would say it is affecting the judgment of the goalkeeper because he's moving. But if you're in an offside position and you're in front of the goalkeeper, why don't they just give it offside?
"It would be easy for them to just say; 'That's offside', because then you don't get; 'Should it', 'Was it', 'I'm not sure about it', They're just making it more difficult for themselves."
Michael Oliver
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Alan Shearer wasn't pleased with Michael Oliver's performance in the north London derby(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Shearer replied: "I honestly think they have panicked. I think they've panicked and thought if we give that offside, the criticism we're going to get again, but, really, that would have been the right decision.
"They've just made such a mess of the last couple of weeks with those decisions."
Lineker joined the conversation, suggesting that referees are overcomplicating things in their quest to make the correct call. The former Match of the Day presenter said: "When I played, if you were offside, you were offside. That was it.
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"I don't know whether that would be better or worse for the actual game. But, at the minute, they're trying to be so specific, with not just offside but handballs, this and that."