Arsenal endured the worst possible start against West Ham United on Sunday afternoon.
Two goals down after 17 minutes left the Gunners with a huge mountain to climb – one that got even steeper when Tomas Soucek got a touch on Michail Antonio’s knockdown to give the Hammers a 3-0 lead.
The Czech Republic international then turned into his own net shortly before half-time to give Arsenal hope and that proved to be a springboard for the visitors to launch a dramatic comeback.
After Craig Dawson had scored West Ham’s second own goal of the afternoon, Alexandre Lacazette rescued a point for Mikel Arteta’s side with a header from close range in the 82nd minute.
With that said, much of the focus has been on Arsenal’s defending – especially for Jarrod Bowen’s goal which doubled West Ham’s lead early in the first-half.
From the Gunners’ point-of-view it was a poor goal to concede.
Jesse Lingard – who broke the deadlock just two minute earlier – caught the north London outfit cold by taking a quick free-kick that put Bowen through on goal and his effort squeezed under Bernd Leno at his near post.
However, some Arsenal fans on Reddit have a theory as to why the goal should not have been allowed to stand
As the free-kick is conceded, referee Jonathan Moss can be seen preparing to mark the spot from which the set-piece was to be taken from with the special spray.
Whilst some supporters think a large portion of the blame is on the shoulders of the Arsenal players for not reacting quickly enough, others are adamant that the goal should not have counted.
protomolecule_21 said: “Yep, it’s insane how many people think the quick free-kick was justified. It’s actually appalling, free-kick was taken far away from the foul to gain an unfair advantage, Moss was chatting with Saka and had the spray foam.”
Carterxix said: “Very clear indication that shouldn’t stand, it wasn’t a quick free-kick.”
cocakokash said: “Moss shouldn’t have allowed them to play on considering he was about to put the spray and two Arsenal players were talking with him, add to the fact that the ball was played from about 5 meters from where the foul was committed, which would require the free kick to be retaken properly.
“But yes our players should’ve been more alert.”
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Qtn68Leno said: “It’s not an excuse for our players but if you see the referee taking his spray it means the ref will show you where to stand for the free-kick.
“So the game is in the referee’s hands and should not be into West Ham’s hands because clearly our players can be impacted by the referee’s behavior.”
