Mark Halsey: Why I would NOT have awarded Arsenal first-half penalty in Man City showdown.. it was harsh on Ederson

ARSENAL were awarded a first-half penalty when Ederson collided with Eddie Nketiah – but it was a harsh decision by referee Anthony Taylor.

The Manchester City keeper came out and Nketiah got his shot away before the momentum of both players saw a coming together, so I wouldn’t have awarded a spot-kick.

Mark Halsey was a Prem ref between 1999 and 2013Rex

This is the sort of incident that you often see in the Premier League where no foul is given.

Taylor made a subjective call by pointing to the spot – which is what refs’ chief Howard Webb wants – and because it was not a clear and obvious error then VAR did not get involved.

But had the penalty award not been given, VAR would not have intervened either.

Ederson was already on a caution but this was not a second yellow-card offence.

Not every foul awarded requires a card and Taylor deemed it careless rather than reckless.

It was a good spot by Taylor when he correctly waved away a penalty appeal after Leandro Trossard went down in the box as Kyle Walker challenged.

Football fans joked Arsenal were awarded a controversial penalty against Man City to make up for referees’ blunder weekend – and even Piers Morgan was mystified, writes SunSport’s Joshua Jones.

Mikel Arteta was still seething four days on from the calamitous error by bungling VAR Lee Mason that let Brentford’s offside equaliser stand when the Citizens arrived in North London.

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Just before half-time, ref Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot when Eddie Nketiah was bundled into by Ederson.

Nathan Ake cleared off the line but replacement VAR David Coote – who came in for John Brooks after his own howler at Selhurst Park – saw no reason to overturn Taylor’s on-field decision.

That was despite Gary Neville declaring on Twitter: “Not a pen that!”

And Gunners-mad Morgan added: “BOOOOOOOM! 1-1. Brilliant penalty by Saka (even if I have no idea why it was given… ).”

Fans also joked that the refs were trying to balance the decisions out with one writing on Twitter: “Arsenal were robbed over the weekend, so they’ve been gifted the equalizer here tonight.”