Jakub Kiwior has admitted he was hoping VAR would rule out Brighton’s first goal against Arsenal on Sunday, as his boot was taken off in a challenge.
- Jakub Kiwior’s boot was taken off in a challenge during the Arsenal vs Brighton match, leading to the opening goal for Brighton.
- Kiwior hoped that VAR would disallow the goal due to the incident, but the officials did not find sufficient grounds to overturn the goal.
- The incident left Arsenal at a disadvantage, contributing to their eventual 3-0 defeat in the match.
Arsenal suffered a frustrating 3-0 defeat to Brighton on Sunday, but the opening goal was the source of some controversy.
As a cross came in from Pervis Estupinan, Evan Ferguson stood on the back of Jakub Kiwior’s ankle, pulling his boot off with his studs.
Kieran Tierney headed the first ball clear, while Kiwior fell to his knees and made to pull his boot back on. As he did so, Estupinan put the ball back into the box to Julio Enciso, who was no longer being marked by Kiwior.
It was a simple enough task for the Paraguayan international to head home for 1-0.
The problem was that the contact on Kiwior didn’t appear to be deliberate. These things are always hard to call, but it seemed like Ferguson’s foot just happened to come down on the defender’s boot.
The VAR officials clearly didn’t think there was enough to overturn the original decision to allow the goal to stand, much to Kiwior’s disappointment.
“I felt contact and lost my boot and didn’t even see the goal,” Kiwior said (translated by Jakub Krupa).
“I hoped VAR would intervene and chalk off the goal, but unfortunately, the ref saw it differently. After we conceded the second, our heads dropped and we couldn’t come back.”
Arsenal ended up losing the match 3-0, so they can hardly claim that one decision was all that cost them in Sunday’s game.
But when it’s the first goal, it always feels like it could have been a turning point. After a pretty good first half, perhaps Arsenal could have made a more serious go of the game if not for conceding so early in the second.
It probably would have been harsh to rule the goal out, but Kiwior was certainly unlucky that – through no fault of his own – he had his boot taken off at the vital moment.