The Premier League's independent panel has ruled that Arsenal were wrongly denied a stoppage-time penalty against Aston Villa and VAR should have intervened.
The Premier League's Key Match Incident Panel has unanimously ruled that Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty for Ian Maatsen's late challenge on Bruno Guimaraes in the 1-0 victory over Aston Villa in Matchweek Two.
Maatsen caught Guimaraes in the eighth minute of added time at Villa Park, with referee Jarred Gillett allowing play to continue. VAR reviewed the incident then also decided not to recommend it for an on-field review.
The Gunners left Villa Park with all three points thanks to Bukayo Saka's second-half goal, but the Premier League's independent panel has now concluded that both decisions were wrong.
The five members voted 5-0 that a penalty should have been given on the field, describing Maatsen's challenge as reckless.
"The panel felt that a penalty should have been awarded on-field for Maatsen's reckless challenge on Guimaraes," the Premier League said. "Clear contact was made on the attacker's standing leg and Maatsen made no contact with the ball."
The VAR decision not to intervene also received a unanimous 5-0 verdict.
The Premier League has emphasised maintaining a high threshold for VAR intervention this season, with the system not intended to re-referee subjective decisions unless there is clear evidence of an error.
On this occasion, however, the panel found that threshold had been met.
It said: "The VAR should have intervened to recommend an on-field review for a clear and obvious error."
Maatsen had already been shown a yellow card in the 96th minute after fouling Saka, only two minutes before his challenge on Guimaraes that should have resulted in a penalty.
That made the KMI Panel's assessment of the tackle even more consequential. It also found the Villa defender's challenge reckless enough to warrant another caution, meaning Maatsen should have been sent off for a second yellow card.
VAR cannot intervene purely to recommend a second booking, but the situation would have been different had Gillett been sent to the monitor to review the penalty decision.
The Premier League explained that the referee would then have retained the option of showing Maatsen a second yellow as part of the review.
It was a particularly eventful finish to Guimaraes' first Arsenal appearance. The midfielder, who had missed the opening league game after arriving from Newcastle United, came on in the 71st minute at Villa Park before being involved in the disputed incident deep into added time.
It wasn’t Maatsen’s first involvement in a potential penalty decision that night. The defender brought down Saka, and Gillett initially awarded a penalty. VAR intervened on that decision, later ruling the foul occurred outside the penalty area and overturning it.
That intervention was not the one subsequently criticised by the KMI Panel. Instead, the Premier League's review has concluded that the Gunners were denied the chance to make the game safe from the spot in the closing seconds, while Villa should also have been reduced to 10 men, something that would have had potential impact on their next fixture, due to suspension.