Premier League respond as VAR drama makes difference in Arsenal vs Bournemouth

The Premier League have issued a statement to explain why Evanilson's goal for in their clash with wasn't disallowed despite a lengthy VAR check. The Gunners went 1-0 up thanks to a first-half goal but the Cherries battled back in the second period.

Dean Huijsen grabbed the equaliser before Evanilson netted a scrappy second. The striker's goal was checked by VAR due to claims from the Arsenal players that he handled the ball. VAR stuck with the referee's decision, though, and now the league have explained why.

A statement read: "The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with no conclusive evidence that Evanilson handled the ball before scoring."

Robert Green, the former England goalkeeper, agreed with the decision. Speaking on Radio 5 Live, he said: "In the VAR booth there's no evidence to say it's off the hand. It's not conclusive."

Green, who represented clubs including Norwich, and during a successful playing career, also praised Bournemouth's goal and added: "It's the stuff of dreams for the Bournemouth fans. It's a really well executed set piece. Really good centre forward play from Evanilson."

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The goal proved crucial, with Arsenal - who have already seen crowned champions - suffering a surprise defeat. It's another blow for Gunners manager , who this week admitted seeing Liverpool winning the Premier League has been “painful”.

Liverpool’s resounding 5-1 win at home to on Sunday saw them win their second Premier League title.

Arteta’s Gunners fell short in a title race for a third successive season and, asked whether Liverpool winning the league has hurt him, Arteta said: “Yes, big time.

“I understand that it’s a team who have been more consistent, they’ve had the ingredients to win it and it’s been painful. I want to congratulate Liverpool and what they’ve done, the manner they’ve done it and how consistent they’ve been, and I think they fully deserved to win it.

“They’ve been the better team, had the better attributes, had their squad available consistently and we are going to try again.

“They’ve had this distraction (contract negotiations with Virgil van Dijk, and ) but they still had them on the pitch the whole time which is positive.

“They are a club who over the last 10 years have been fighting for trophies, winning big trophies like the . They are deserved champions.”

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