Five fouls in one move - breaking down Premier League corner chaos

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, There is a certain irony, given that Arsenal have been the kings of the dark arts on set-pieces this season, that they beat West Ham thanks to VAR ruling out Pablo's effort for a foul on Gunners keeper David Raya Football issues correspondentPublished19 minutes agoIt feels like this Premier League season has been defined by set-piece drama. Not just the goals that have been scored, but the constant grappling, pushing, pulling and wrestling. It appeared to reach a head in February, when about 15 Manchester United and Everton players camped inside the six-yard box. Players were being thrown to the floor before the ball was in play. It was carnage. "You get the feeling now that referees really don't want to get involved in any of it," Everton manager David Moyes said. Do not be fooled into thinking this is just a Premier League problem. BBC Sport recently attended an event with Roberto Rosetti, the head of Uefa's referees. The first thing the Italian concentrated on was examples of goalkeepers being pressurised at set-pieces. Arsenal have been the kings of it, crowding and surrounding goalkeepers at corners, finding ways to create space and score from set-pieces. Fast forward to Sunday, and the season-defining VAR intervention which had major repercussions for Arsenal's title chances - and West Ham's hopes of remaining in the Premier League. There was pushing and pulling going on all over the place, but Pablo was penalised for a foul on Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya. The VAR intervened to disallow it, and the Gunners claimed a crucial 1-0 win. Considering the Gunners' set-piece prowess this season - 21 of their 68 league goals (31%) have come this way - there was a certain irony that such a defining moment resulted in the opposition having a goal ruled out. Figure caption, VAR's biggest ever decision? - analysis Jarrod Bowen stood over the ball by the corner flag. There was so much going on in the penalty area as he delivered a cross. A melee ensued before Callum Wilson blasted a shot over the line. Salvation for the Hammers? Enter the video assistant referee, Darren England. You cannot blame the VAR for taking his time. This was such a huge moment with five potential fouls buried among the bodies. Whatever decision England made was going to be the subject of intense scrutiny. Let's break it down step-by-step, consider the potential fouls and what the VAR would be looking for. In the chronology of fouls, this was the first potential incident. The two players were at the near post, with Kai Havertz in front facing the ball. Tomas Soucek was climbing over the back of the Germany international. As the ball was in the air, the Arsenal forward ended up on the floor with Soucek on top of him. The VAR will take into account that the players were not in the area where the ball was going to land - Havertz was not going to be prevented from playing it. That Soucek was was facing the ball goes in his favour, too. All in all, the VAR would have allowed this to go. Both Martin Odegaard and Jean-Clair Todibo were engaged in mutual holding. When this is the case no one party is judged to be committing an offence - essentially, they are both as bad as each other. Odegaard had an arm round the waist of the West Ham attacker, who had his arm around the Norway international's shoulder. The battle between Leandro Trossard and Pablo started just outside the six-yard box as the ball was kicked. They were both holding on to each other at first before Pablo tried to make a run towards goal. This was when Trossard, with his back to the play, grabbed Pablo around the waist. Based on what we have seen this season, it was not enough for a penalty as Pablo was able to move to the flight of the ball and was not dragged down. However, this was the incident which may have been of most interest to the VAR outside the foul on Raya. After moving into the six-yard area under pressure from Trossard, Pablo engaged with David Raya. Crucially, he did so in a way which impeded the goalkeeper from being able to claim or play the ball. Pablo had his arm directly across the Spain international, and was holding the goalkeeper's left arm with his hand. This restricted Raya in two ways. His right arm was pinned down by Pablo's left biceps, and his left forearm was being held too. For the VAR, this clearly impacted the goalkeeper's ability to play the ball. Tobido was pulling the back of Raya's shirt, too, but it was Pablo committing the crucial foul. Declan Rice had his arms around the waist of West Ham's Konstantinos Mavropanos. There was the potential for this to be a penalty, as it was a clear non-footballing action. However, it happened almost simultaneously with Pablo's challenge on Raya. The foul which had the material impact on the passage of play was prioritised. And that was Raya's attempt to play the ball. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Aston Villa felt

Five fouls in one move - breaking down Premier League corner chaos

Key takeaways

More in top