Kevin Campbell believes the Gunners’ goal against Brighton should have stood
Former Arsenal star Kevin Campbell believes the Gunners’ equalizer against Brighton & Hove Albion should not have been chalked off for offside.
The north London side thought they equalized against the Seagulls last Saturday when Gabriel Martinelli nodded home from close range to make it 1-1 in the first half.
However, the goal was disallowed as Martinelli marginally strayed offside. Brighton took the lead into halftime and added another in the second half.
The two-goal deficit was too much for the Gunners to chase down in the second half as they lost for the second time in as many games to drop to fifth in the league table.
Campbell believes Martinelli’s goal against Brighton should have stood, but went on to add that Arsenal didn’t deserve a point as they did not play well.
He told Football Insider:
“This VAR… It is going to be the death of me. Look, you can say he was onside and it did look a dodgy decision to rule out the goal.”However, the truth of the matter is Arsenal didn’t deserve it. That goal could have given Arsenal a point but they didn’t deserve it. They didn’t play well enough. Let’s not kid ourselves, they were awful on the day and Brighton were the better team. Brighton deserved to win.”I don’t like VAR. Was it a goal? I thought it was. I am not losing my head over that though because Arsenal didn’t play well.”
Arsenal will need to step up in the coming weeks to finish in the top four
The Gunners have some difficult fixtures as they will face the likes of Manchester United, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Mikel Arteta will also be without a couple of key players as Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney are not expected to feature in the coming weeks.
Although Arsenal will go level with Tottenham if they win their game in hand, they have a vastly inferior goal difference.
Arteta’s side were favorites to finish in the top four a few weeks ago, but back-to-back defeats against Crystal Palace and Brighton in the Premier League have hurt their chances.
The north London outfit will need a big push in the coming weeks if they are to secure Champions League football for next season.
