Premier League leaders Arsenal have been beneficiaries of three VAR mistakes on penalty decisions this season.
Mikel Arteta‘s side are nine points clear of Manchester City in the title race having played a game more.
And while there’s no questioning the Gunners’ on-pitch dominance this season, they have been fortuitous in terms of some key decisions landing in their favour.
The Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel convene over every game to judge how it was officiated and whether any mistakes were made.
Those fall into various categories, the most common of which is missed interventions when the VAR should have alerted the on-pitch referee to an incident.
The KMI panel, which is comprised of five members, three former players and coaches, a representative from the Premier League and another from Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), vote on the big decisions.
Declan Rice should have been penalised for the above handball against Chelsea
Gabriel Martinelli hauled down Mats Wieffer late in the Arsenal win over Brighton
And Arsenal, who have had no VAR mistakes against them all season, can count themselves lucky.
In their 1-0 win over Brighton earlier this month, the Seagulls should have been awarded a spot kick.
Mats Wieffer was hauled down in the box in stoppage time, as Gabriel Martinelli committed what was deemed to be a foul by the panel, but crucially not by the referee or VAR on the day.
Chris Kavanagh allowed play to carry on and video assistant referee, Michael Salisbury, ruled there was no clear and obvious mistake.
The panel voted 4:1 that it should have been a penalty and 3:2 that it was a missed VAR intervention. Fabian Hurzeler was furious on the sideline and his anger has been justified by the ruling.
The ruling said: ‘Martinelli is not looking at the ball, holds Wieffer into the area and prevents the player from challenging for the ball.’
Another occasion when Arsenal escaped was when Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty for handball by Declan Rice.
The incident occurred in the Blues’ 2-1 away defeat and could have been a crucial moment in the game.
William Saliba escaped without punishment despite fouling Thierno Barry in the box
Rice moved his arm and diverted the ball out for a corner just before half-time. The panel voted unanimously 5:0 that it was the wrong decision.
Interestingly, only one panel member thought it met the threshold for VAR intervention.
In addition to the two more recent non-penalty calls helping Arsenal, there was another at the end of last year.
The KMI panel judged that Thierno Barry was fouled by William Saliba when they clashed in the box during a hard-fought 1-0 win for the Gunners.
Barry’s boot was kicked by Saliba, who misplaced his challenge but the referee opted against pointing to the spot.
The vote on the panel was closer this time, with a 3:2 majority deciding the decision was wrong.
Michael Salisbury was again the VAR on duty that day and the panel voted 3:2 that he should have sent the referee to the monitor.
The three noted that ‘Saliba carelessly kicked Barry with no contact on the ball’. David Moyes later said: ‘It feels as though certain clubs get those decisions and other clubs don’t.’
There have already been as many VAR mistakes this season as the entirety of the previous campaign (18).
Arsenal supporters will no doubt care little for the KMI panel’s verdict, with the team on course to win the title.
Arteta’s side have a quadruple still in their hands as they enter the business end of the season and will hope their luck doesn’t run out.
