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Late goal and dramatic VAR call help Arsenal stay in control of EPL title race
London, England (AP):Arsenal needed a late goal and an even later, dramatic VAR call to stay in control of the Premier League title race yesterday.A 1-0 win over relegation-threatened West Ham restored Arsenal’s five-point lead over second-placed Manchester City and came with a huge dose of controversy.Leading, thanks to Leandro Trossard’s 83rd-minute goal, Arsenal looked like they would be throwing away two crucial points — and losing their slim advantage in the title race — when West Ham substitute Callum Wilson lashed a shot over the line following a corner in the fifth minute of stoppage time.Arsenal’s players complained and there was a long video review, which spotted West Ham player Pablo had his left arm across the face of David Raya as the Arsenal goalkeeper attempted to get to the ball after the corner was swung in.The referee, Chris Kavanagh, looked at the incident on the pitch-side monitor and chose to rule out the goal.“I saw the replay now,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said, “and I think it’s an obvious decision.”West Ham’s players felt aggrieved, with Tomas Soucek complaining that video reviews were only brought in to look for “big errors”.“For football, this is a disappointing moment,” Soucek said, “and for every fan this is not what we want — we want goals, we want celebrations. Not to wait 10 minutes for a small foul.”West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen added: “I get that you can’t wipe a goalkeeper out and there’s arms there, but the keeper’s come out to try and grab the ball so ..
