Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen smiled and admitted that referee Anthony Taylor helped them score against Arsenal after measuring out the wall at '15 metres'.
According to the FA guidelines, opposition players are allowed to be ten yards clear of the free-kick taker when lining up a wall. It has often been suggested that ten yards is equivalent to ten strides but, of course, that all depends on the length of stride.
This little talked about rule was under the spotlight at half-time and post-match after it seemed as though the Arsenal players were further back than the required ten yards. Sky Sports' technology declared that the wall, as Bruno Fernandes struck his free-kick, was 11.2 yards away.
However, in his post-match interview with the broadcaster, Eriksen believed that Taylor had been even more generous than that when measuring out. "Very good, [I was] happy that the wall was about 15 metres away (16.4 yards)," the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder said.
"You saw how far back they were and it was beneficial for us. We felt relief from the fans in the stadium after the goal."
Arsenal would cancel out Fernandes' opener with approximately 15 minutes left on the clock as Declan Rice struck a well-placed effort that went in off the inside of the post. Despite their best efforts, the Gunners would end up drawing the match and losing further ground to leaders Liverpool in the Premier League table.
Mikel Arteta's side are now 15 points behind the Reds with just 30 points remaining for them to accumulate. As things stand, Arne Slot's side need five victories and a draw from their final nine matches to win the title.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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