Chelsea's opening goal in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Sunday should have been disallowed under IFAB Law 11.
Arsenal unable to take all three points against ten-man Chelsea
With Moises Caicedo being shown a straight red card after fouling Mikel Merino in the first half, the Gunners would've been expecting to pick up what could be a crucial three points at Stamford Bridge, but the hosts refused to lie down.
In fact, Trevoh Chalobah opened the scoring for Enzo Maresca's side just after half-time, although the north Londoners were ultimately able to come away with a point, as Mikel Merino was able to level things up just over ten minutes later.
Speaking after the game, Maresca made it clear he had no problem with Caicedo being given his marching orders, although he did question why Tottenham Hotspur's Rodrigo Bentancur was not sent off for a similar challenge last month.
However, Mikel Arteta may have complaints of his own, with VAR being accused of going "completely blind" and missing Enzo Fernandez in an offside position during Chalobah's opening goal.
IFAB's Law 11 describes offside offences, and Fernandez's position battling against Cristhian Mosquera certainly meets the criteria for 'interfering with an opponent'.
A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched* by a team-mate is only penalised on becoming involved in active play by:
interfering with play by playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team-mate or
interfering with an opponent by:preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or
challenging an opponent for the ball or
clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent or
making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball
However, the goal stood and Maresca's side managed to hold out for a draw, despite having ten men for most of the game, so Arteta arguably has a right to feel aggrieved the Gunners were unable to extend their lead at the top.
Arsenal should have taken three points regardless
Although there is a case to be made that Chalobah's goal should've been ruled out, Arsenal will be kicking themselves, given that Caicedo's early red card presented them with a golden opportunity to pick up a victory.
Arteta concurs that it was two points dropped, saying after the game: "I think overall it's been a really positive week because the difficulty was immense.
"But I have this flavour that today we should have and we could have won the game and we haven't. That's a learning point from it."
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Arsenal were not at their free-flowing best as they drew with Chelsea.
That said, the north Londoners shouldn't be too disheartened, as getting a point at Stamford Bridge is still a good result, and they have a healthy lead at the top of the Premier League table, currently sitting five points clear of Man City.