Why Micky Van De Ven’s Goal Was Disallowed For Offside in Tottenham vs Arsenal Clash

• Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 to boost their Premier League title hopes
• The Gunners raced to a 3-0 first-half lead but were pegged back after the break
• Micky van de Ven's disallowed goal for offside with the score at 1-0 was controversial

The disallowed Micky van de Ven goal in the North London derby on April 28 is set to spark a huge debate.

The first half of Arsenal's trip to face their rivals Tottenham Hotspur had everything as the title contenders ran riot on away ground.

Tottenham began the better of the two sides by dominating proceedings, but it was Mikel Arteta's side who found a breakthrough via a Pierre-Emile Højbjerg own goal.

Spurs found an immediate response after van de Ven slotted in from close range after a half-clearance from Arsenal. The Dutch defender was the first one to react from a couple of rebounds from Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel Magalhaes to poke the ball past the advancing David Raya.

Roma's interrupted match at Udinese to be finished on April 25

Football

Why van de Ven's was disallowed

However, Spurs faithful were crestfallen after a VAR check deemed him offside. The bone of contention in this incident will be that the Spurs centre-back received the ball from an opponent.

Section 11 of the IFAB Laws on offside dictates that;

"A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately played* the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage unless it was a deliberate save by any opponent."

Van de Ven might have been offside when the initial ball was swung in, but Gabriel played the ball onto his path from the Tomiyasu rebound.

The 'deliberate' term is further explained in the section as a player who was in control of the ball and could pass it to a teammate, gain possession, or clear it (e.g., by kicking or heading it).

Liverpool win at Fulham to reignite Premier League title challenge

Football

The section lists written criteria that the officials can use to determine whether the player is in control of the ball. VAR Jarred Gillet must have adjudged Gabriel not to have been in control of the ball and thus wrongfully gave the advantage to the opponent.

Further goals from Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz put the game beyond Spurs' reach, who put on a majestic attempt to come back with goals from Christian Romero and skipper Heung-min Son.

Ben White unsettles Vicario

Sports Brief has also reported that Ben White tried to undo Guglielmo Vicario's gloves in the first half of the North London derby.

The Arsenal defender was spotted trying some dark art just a few minutes before Arsenal broke the deadlock.

White's antics paid off, as Vicario failed to deal with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's deflected header, which gave Arsenal the lead.