Raya Unfazed By Crazy VAR Decision

Raya Saves Arsenal From VAR’s Latest Moment of Madness

Arsenal’s 100 per cent Premier League record remains intact. Six wins on the spin in all competitions, another clean sheet, Bruno Guimaraes off the mark and Bukayo Saka putting the cherry on top.

So why did Mikel Arteta look like a man who wanted to throttle somebody?

Because Arsenal’s 2-0 victory at Sunderland could quite easily have been turned on its head by one of those refereeing decisions that makes you wonder what on earth VAR is actually there for.

Thankfully, David Raya had other ideas.

With the game still in the balance, referee John Brooks decided that Ezri Konsa’s tussle with Dan Ballard constituted a penalty. Arteta subsequently described Ballard’s contribution as a “judo roll”, which was considerably more diplomatic than some Arsenal supporters will have been.

I’ve watched it again and I’m still struggling to understand what Konsa was supposed to have done.

More importantly, VAR watched it too.

That’s the bit that gets me.

Referees will make mistakes. Football happens quickly. Bodies collide, players exaggerate contact and officials occasionally see something that simply wasn’t there.

Fine.

But we now have several people sitting in a room watching the same incident from umpteen different angles, in slow motion, with the ability to tell the referee: John, you might want another look at that.

And they still managed to arrive at a penalty.

Arteta was absolutely raging afterwards.

“It is unacceptable at this level,” he said. “This can change the course of a season.”

He’s right.

Imagine Le Fee scores. Sunderland suddenly have momentum, the Stadium of Light erupts and Arsenal are facing a completely different final half-hour.

Instead, Raya produced a superb save.

And 121 seconds later, Arsenal scored.

That is what title-challenging teams do.

Rather than feeling sorry for themselves, Arsenal went straight up the other end and punished Sunderland. Guimaraes collected the ball around 20 yards out and curled a beauty into the net for his first Arsenal goal.

Not a bad way to introduce yourself.

Sunderland deserve some credit because they made Arsenal work extremely hard. This wasn’t some procession against a side content to admire Arsenal’s football. They competed, disrupted and made the Gunners uncomfortable.

But this Arsenal team increasingly seems to possess something previous incarnations didn’t always have.

They can win ugly.

They can survive difficult periods.

And when something goes against them, they don’t necessarily collapse into an extended bout of self-pity.

Raya saves the penalty.

Two minutes later: bang.

Guimaraes.

Game changed.

Then, deep into stoppage time, Reinildo Mandava picked up his second yellow and Arsenal were finally awarded a penalty of their own.

Up stepped Saka.

2-0.

Goodnight Sunderland.

There will inevitably be people saying Arteta shouldn’t complain because Arsenal won.

Nonsense.

That is precisely when you should complain.

Do it after a defeat and everybody says you’re making excuses. Do it after you’ve won 2-0 and nobody can accuse you of blaming the referee for the result.

Arteta wasn’t asking for Arsenal to receive special treatment. He was asking how, with all the technology now available, such a dubious decision can survive VAR scrutiny.

And that’s a question football still hasn’t satisfactorily answered.

VAR was supposed to eliminate the howlers.

Instead, we’ve reached the bizarre stage where supporters sometimes watch a replay of an incident, reach an obvious conclusion within ten seconds, and then wait several minutes while highly trained officials apparently discover an entirely different version of reality.

Fortunately, on this occasion it didn’t matter.

Raya made sure of that.

Six consecutive victories. Another clean sheet. Guimaraes up and running. Saka on the scoresheet. Arsenal still perfect in the Premier League.

And perhaps the most encouraging thing of all?

On a day when the referee very nearly changed the game, Arsenal simply changed it back.

Loose Cannon verdict: Sunderland 0 Arsenal 2. Three points, clean sheet, perfect record intact.

VAR 0 David Raya 1.

NAPOLI CHASE SHADOWS AS ØDEGAARD DELIVERS THE KILLER BLOW

There are wins, and then there are the nights when you watch Arsenal patiently take a very good European side apart and think: this lot really do know exactly what they’re doing.

Napoli made us work for it. They defended, they competed and for 74 minutes they somehow kept us out. But Arsenal never panicked. We kept playing. Kept passing. Kept moving them around. And eventually Napoli simply couldn’t live with it.

On 75 minutes, the breakthrough finally arrived — and it was pure Arsenal.

Bruno Guimarães found Ben White inside the box, White laid it back to Martin Ødegaard and suddenly Napoli were chasing shadows. Ødegaard exchanged passes with Christos Tzolis before absolutely thumping his finish in off the post from the edge of the area.

1–0. Fourth of the campaign for Ødegaard. And thoroughly deserved.

This wasn’t a lucky ricochet or a goal conjured from nothing. It was the reward for sticking to the football we had played all night. Pass. Move. Drag them out. Go again. Eventually something breaks.

Napoli broke.

We should have finished them off six minutes from time. Kai Havertz surged forward on the counter and released Noni Madueke, who suddenly had the goal at his mercy. Milinković-Savić somehow kept out the one-on-one with his feet, and when Tzolis followed up, his effort was cleared off the line.

That should have been that.

Then, in the dying seconds, Havertz actually did have the ball in the net after Milinković-Savić spilled another Tzolis effort. Cue celebrations — followed by that modern football disease: the delayed offside flag.

No goal.

Never mind.

Sixty seconds later the whistle went anyway.

Arsenal 1, Napoli 0.

And here’s the statistic that should make the rest of Europe sit up: 13 consecutive victories in the league phase of the competition.

Thirteen.

European football is supposed to be where the margins get smaller, where one mistake kills you and where even the best sides occasionally come unstuck.

Arsenal just keep winning.

Perhaps the most encouraging thing was the patience. There was no desperation at 0–0. No abandoning the plan. No hopeful punts into the penalty area because the clock was ticking. We trusted the passing game until Napoli could no longer follow it.

Then Ødegaard punished them.

That’s what serious teams do.

And if Napoli spent much of the evening chasing shadows, they won’t be the last.

The Cannon keeps rolling.

Sign For A Big Club

You Should Have Signed for a Big Club! Arsenal Turn Chelsea’s Early Swagger into Another Emirates Defeat

Arsenal 2 Chelsea 1

There are few things more satisfying in football than watching an opposition player celebrate as though he has just won the World Cup, only to spend the rest of the afternoon discovering that he may have poked a rather large bear.

Morgan Rogers needed just 77 seconds to silence the Emirates. His superb volley from outside the area flew past David Raya and suddenly Chelsea were ahead, their new boy was celebrating and Arsenal’s perfect start to the season was under threat.

The Arsenal supporters had an answer.

“YOU SHOULD HAVE SIGNED FOR A BIG CLUB!”

Welcome to the Emirates, Morgan.

It was particularly delicious because Arsenal had been linked with Rogers before his move to Chelsea. He had chosen blue. The North Bank clearly hadn’t forgotten.

For a few minutes Arsenal looked rattled. Riccardo Calafiori appeared to have equalised, only for VAR to intervene and rule it out for offside. But rather than lose their heads, the champions gradually took control.

And who better to bring Arsenal level than Kai Havertz?

Declan Rice found the German, Havertz made himself a yard and promptly smashed the ball past Emi Martinez at his near post.

Yes, that Emi Martinez.

An ex-Gunner in the Chelsea goal was always going to receive a lively reception, but conceding at his near post to Havertz ensured that the Emirates faithful weren’t exactly inclined to send him home with a bunch of flowers.

Chelsea nearly restored their lead when Pedro Neto hit the post in first-half stoppage time, but Arsenal went into the break level and emerged looking like a side that knew precisely what it was doing.

Five minutes into the second half, the turnaround was complete.

Christos Tzolis drove down the left and fired a low ball towards Havertz. The German produced a wonderful dummy, allowing it to run through to Martin Odegaard, and the skipper buried his left-footed finish.

2-1.

From 0-1 after 77 seconds to 2-1 after 50 minutes.

Chelsea had poked the bear. The bear had eaten them.

They certainly had chances afterwards. Estevao forced a magnificent save from Raya, while Reece James pumped balls into the Arsenal area as Chelsea desperately searched for an equaliser. But Arsenal stood firm.

Rice controlled the midfield. Havertz finished with a goal and an assist. Odegaard provided the winner. Raya produced the big save when required.

And Chelsea?

For all the money spent and all the noise surrounding another rebuild, they still haven’t beaten Arsenal in the Premier League since August 2021.

That is becoming less a statistic and more an archaeological period.

There was still time for one final bit of Emirates entertainment.

As Martinez made his way home afterwards, the former Arsenal keeper received plenty of stick from supporters. Football crowds have long memories, and the Argentine’s various encounters with his old club have hardly been characterised by warm nostalgia. After conceding twice and leaving north London empty-handed, his journey away from the Emirates was accompanied by a few reminders of exactly where he was.

Farewell, Gabi

The victory also came with a genuinely sad piece of Arsenal news: Gabriel Martinelli has now officially left the club to join Al-Hilal.

The Brazilian departs for a club-record fee received, making the deal extraordinary business financially, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be missed.

Martinelli arrived as a relatively unknown teenager and became one of the symbols of Arsenal’s transformation under Arteta: direct, fearless, ridiculously quick and always prepared to run himself into the ground for the shirt.

There were frustrating spells. There were questions over his final ball and whether he had quite fulfilled the enormous potential we saw during his breakthrough. But there were also huge goals, electrifying performances and that infectious enthusiasm which made it very difficult not to like him.

Football moves quickly. Arsenal have evolved, competition for places has become ferocious and a record offer is difficult to refuse.

But Gabi leaves with our thanks.

Once a Gunner, always a Gunner.

Meanwhile, back at the Emirates, Arsenal have nine points from nine.

Three matches. Three wins.

And Chelsea arrived, scored after 77 seconds and presumably thought this might finally be their day.

It wasn’t.

Perhaps Morgan Rogers should have listened to the North Bank.

“YOU SHOULD HAVE SIGNED FOR A BIG CLUB!”

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Saka Silences Villa

Premier League champions Arsenal continued their perfect start to the season with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Aston Villa, courtesy of a familiar match-winner and a performance that was far more efficient than exhilarating.

Bukayo Saka scored the decisive goal in the 59th minute, poking home from close range after Riccardo Calafiori delivered an excellent cross into the Villa penalty area. Remarkably, it was the first attempt on target by either side.

This was hardly Arsenal at their free-flowing best. Chances were scarce, the football was frequently scrappy and Villa did a reasonable job of disrupting the champions’ rhythm. Yet winning these awkward matches is exactly what champions do. Arsenal did not need to produce a masterpiece. They needed one moment of quality, and Saka provided it.

Villa’s supporters responded by singing “1-0 to the referee”, which was an extraordinary interpretation of events given that Arsenal had already seen a couple of stonewall penalty appeals waved away.

If the referee was attempting to help Arsenal, he had a remarkably discreet way of showing it.

There is something particularly irritating about supporters chanting about refereeing conspiracies when their own side has been the obvious beneficiary of the questionable decisions. Arsenal could easily have been awarded at least one penalty, and the match might have been considerably more comfortable had the officials done their jobs properly.

Instead, Arsenal had to win it the hard way. Perhaps that made the victory even more satisfying.

Saka’s importance to this team requires no further explanation. When Arsenal need inspiration, he usually supplies it. Opponents know what he wants to do, double up on him and kick him whenever possible, yet he continues to decide matches.

However, Saka’s status also raises questions about Ethan Nwaneri’s immediate future.

Borussia Dortmund have approached Arsenal about taking the 19-year-old on loan, and the German club remain hopeful that a deal can be completed before the transfer window closes. Nwaneri has not appeared this season and was omitted from Arsenal’s matchday squads for both the Community Shield victory over Manchester City and Monday’s trip to Villa.

Mikel Arteta has already admitted that while he wants Nwaneri to remain at Arsenal, the teenager “needs to play football”. That is the central issue.

Nwaneri has already made 51 senior appearances for Arsenal and remains the youngest player ever to appear in the Premier League, having made his debut at just 15 years, five months and 28 days. During the 2024-25 campaign, he scored nine goals and supplied two assists in 37 appearances, taking advantage of Saka’s lengthy injury absence.

Yet his pathway has become increasingly congested.

Initially used on the right wing, Nwaneri has more recently been developed as a central midfielder. Unfortunately, Martin Ødegaard, Eberechi Eze and Bruno Guimarães now stand between him and regular football in that position. On the right, he is competing with Arsenal’s most important attacking player.

His loan spell at Marseille during the second half of last season was not especially successful. He made nine league appearances but started only three of them. Arsenal cannot afford to send him somewhere merely to exchange their bench for somebody else’s.

Dortmund, though, could be different. They have an outstanding record of trusting and developing young attacking players. If they can offer Nwaneri meaningful minutes in the Bundesliga and Champions League, it could be the ideal move. A season playing regularly in Germany would do far more for his development than occasional domestic cup appearances in north London.

The key word is “regularly”. Arsenal must receive firm assurances about his intended role before approving anything.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are considering a move for Lyon winger Malick Fofana as Arteta continues to reshape his attack.

The 21-year-old has scored 19 goals in 83 appearances for Lyon, including two in five matches this season. He found the net against Fenerbahçe in Lyon’s Champions League play-off defeat and also scored in a Ligue 1 victory over Toulouse.

Fofana is quick, direct and capable of operating from the left, making Arsenal’s interest understandable. Gabriel Martinelli is set to join Al Hilal in a €70 million deal, while Gabriel Jesus is closing in on a €10 million move to Barcelona. Leandro Trossard has already departed for Beşiktaş.

Arsenal signed Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge earlier in the summer, and the Greek international started the opening victory over Coventry following an impressive pre-season. The pursuit of Fofana suggests Arsenal want genuine competition rather than simply replacing departing players one for one.

After exploring an ambitious move for Vinícius Júnior, only for the Brazilian to sign a new contract with Real Madrid, Fofana represents a younger and considerably more attainable option.

Lyon signed him from Gent for €17 million in January 2024, and his contract runs until 2028. They will not allow him to leave cheaply, particularly this late in the window. Chelsea made an enquiry last summer and Everton also held talks, so Arsenal are unlikely to be alone if Lyon indicate that a deal is possible.

Fofana would not provide the guaranteed superstar impact of Vinícius, but Arsenal no longer need to gamble everything on one glamorous signing. They already possess match-winners. What they need is depth, pace and enough attacking variation to survive another long campaign.

That was evident at Villa Park. Arsenal were not brilliant, but they were composed, resilient and clinical when the opportunity finally arrived.

Saka scored. Calafiori created it. The defence held firm. The referee declined to give Arsenal anything, and Villa supporters somehow blamed him for their defeat anyway.

Champions find a way. Arsenal found one again, but it’s tinged with sadness with Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli poised to leave the club. We wish them both well!

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