Arsenal supporters have been left furious after referee Anthony Taylor made a contentious late call which denied their side a chance to secure a win in their top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool.
Bukayo Saka opened the scoring with a stylish finish but a lapse in concentration during a corner allowed Virgil van Dijk to ghost in with a header and draw Arne Slot’s side level.
Summer signing Mikel Merino then restored the Gunners’ lead with just minutes of a pulsating first-half remaining, emphatically nodding home a pinpoint Declan Rice cross.
But once again Mikel Arteta’s men let Liverpool back into the contest, sitting back after Gabriel and Jakub Kiwior trudged off injured, and Darwin Nunez eventually found enough space to play Mohamed Salah in before the Egyptian gleefully slotted home.
Arsenal fans have directed their ire at dropping yet more points towards the officials, drawing particular attention to a 90th-minute incident which saw their side with the ball in the back of the net, only to realise Taylor had already blown for a foul.
With the ball loose in the Liverpool box, Curtis Jones horribly miscued a clearance sending it into the air.
His subsequent header was weak and resulted in an aerial contest between the Reds’ Dominik Szoboszlai and Gunners substitute Jakub Kiwior.
With the Arsenal defender having gone over the top of his opponent as he won the ball, Taylor waited a second for it to fall to Kai Havertz in the box before blowing his whistle.
The German forward then lobbed it over Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher before Gabriel Jesus rushed in to prod it home.
Thousands of home fans went ballistic believing their side to have grabbed a late winner but Taylor cut the party short, indicating that he had already awarded a foul.
Arsenal players then swarmed the official in anger, making their case that Kiwior’s challenge was a fair one, but the incident could not be sent to VAR as the referee had blown before the ball had ended up in the back of the net.
They were not the only ones who were incessant following the disallowed goal, with swarms of Gunners supporters taking to social media to slam Taylor for the decision.
Callum Stirling posted on X: ‘Officials desperate not to see Arsenal win as usual.’
Alex Hutchings added: ‘Just not a foul is it. Great header.’
Another user said: ‘The referee was so fast to blow the whistle so VAR couldn’t review it too.’
A fourth added: ‘Once again… Refs are the talking point.. congrats @FA_PGMOL.’
Arsenal fans have believed themselves to be the victim of poor officiating on a number of occasions this season.
Red cards for Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard have cost them victories against Brighton and Manchester City respectively.