Jamie Carragher now shares whether VAR should have ruled out Arsenal’s penalty

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Jamie Carragher has now shared whether he thought VAR should have ruled out Arsenal’s penalty against Crystal Palace this evening.

Speaking on Sky Sports Monday Night Football, Carragher was discussing Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Selhurst Park.

It was a tensely fought contest between the two London clubs this evening, with a Martin Odegaard spot kick ultimately deciding the fixture.

There were several big talking points in the second half, with the first being the awarding of a penalty to the visitors.

A quickly taken free-kick caught Crystal Palace napping and Eddie Nketiah latched onto the through ball.

He took a touch before being brought down by Sam Johnstone and referee David Coote pointed to the spot.

VAR checked the penalty and decided to award it and Jamie Carragher has shared his thoughts on the decision.

Odegaard took over penalty-taking duties from Bukayo Saka and made no mistake from 12 yards.

That wasn’t the end of the controversy though as Takehiro Tomiyasu quickly discovered.

Carragher shares whether VAR should have overturned Arsenal penalty

Asked whether VAR should have told Coote to reverse his decision, Carragher said: “No, I don’t think there was enough in there for a foul.

“It’s obviously something in there they have blocked off.

“[Thomas] Partey is not actually looking at the ball, but he doesn’t really move, he doesn’t really push them over.”

Carragher was alluding to the role that Thomas Partey played in the build-up to Arsenal’s penalty that VAR checked.

The Ghanaian midfielder is seen standing in the way of the Crystal Palace defender who attempts to close down Nketiah and then goes to the ground.

It would have been harsh to overturn the penalty based on that, but not as harsh as the decision to send off Takehiro Tomiyasu.

The Japanese defender was booked for time-wasting after taking too long over a throw-in, although Kai Havertz held onto the ball for much longer than he did.

He was then penalised again for fouling Jordan Ayew although replays showed he wasn’t holding onto the striker.

Arsenal ground out the win in the end, with Partey nearly giving away a penalty of his own in the closing stages.

Mikel Arteta will be delighted to have come away with a win after a very difficult test.