Martin Odegaard Scores Winner As Arsenal Scrape Past Hull To Extend PL lead
Arsenal needed a captain’s goal from Martin Odegaard to see off Hull 1-0 and ensure they head into the international break with a healthy lead at the top of the Premier League.
Ødegaard struck with 18 minutes of a tight encounter left to make it seven home wins on the spin for the champions.
The Norwegian’s fifth goal of the season also took the spotlight away from a quite bizarre VAR decision.
Play was stopped shortly before half-time for a penalty check, for a shirt-pull on Kai Havertz by Nobel Mendy.
It was nowhere near the ball, but was otherwise similar to the tug Jurriën Timber gave Liverpool’s Alexander Isak last weekend which went unpunished — only this time Havertz went down.
Referee Farai Hallam was sent to the monitor and duly announced that Mendy had indeed fouled Havertz, to a huge cheer from the home support.
However, he then added that Havertz was actually offside, and awarded a free-kick to Hull instead.
Yet Havertz was neither attempting to play the ball, nor challenging an opponent for the ball, which he would need to be in order to be deemed offside, so the laws state the foul should take precedence.
End.
