At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka scored right away after Michael Oliver waved away penalty appeals from Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison.
Dejan Kulusevski on the deck during Tottenham vs Arsenal (Image: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Gary Neville believes that during Sunday afternoon’s North London Derby matchup at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Michael Oliver was correct to wave away two consecutive quickfire penalty shouts from Tottenham. Shortly after, Bukayo Saka scored at the other end to turn the tide in Arsenal’s favor.
With a dominant first forty-five minutes, in which Saka, Kai Havertz, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg put the opposition under control with an own goal, Arsenal demonstrated their title credentials. But before Saka scored, there was a major talking point as The Gunners counterattacked and took out their fiercest opponents.
Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice, representing Arsenal, both sent Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison sprawling in the Arsenal area, but the man in the middle ruled that neither challenge was lawful. Meanwhile, Neville approved of those calls after watching the replay.
The former Manchester United defender turned pundit, who was providing commentary for Sky Sports, stated: “That second one definitely not, the Maddison one was obvious at the time, he just fell to the ground.” There was a clip of the heels in the Kulusevski one.”
Neville continued, “On the first angle I saw [that] there’s a clip of the heels [from Trossard], which made me think that there might have been contact for the Kulusevski appeal.”
“In the end, he becomes unbalanced. No, there isn’t a fine.
If Arsenal manages to win, they will move up to the top of the Premier League standings, four points ahead of champions Manchester City, who will play Nottingham Forest at 4:30 p.m. today. However, Tottenham’s hopes of finishing in the top four would be dashed by a loss.
