By Alex McLeish

6th Sep, 2022 | 7:00am

Expert issues emphatic verdict on disallowed Arsenal controversy - 'the cameras don't lie'

The decision to disallow a Gabriel Martinelli goal in Arsenal’s 3-1 loss to Man United was correct.

That’s according to former Rangers and Scotland boss Alex McLeish, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the controversy at Old Trafford.

While the scores were 0-0, Martin Odegaard dispossessed Christian Eriksen on the halfway line before Gabriel Martinelli eventually put the ball in the net after a free-flowing attacking move.

However, VAR decided Odegaard had fouled Eriksen while dispossessing him.

McLeish insists this was the correct decision.

“The one that was the strangest was Eriksen getting tackled unfairly,” McLeish told Football Insider’s Ben Wild.

“The guy hit him in the knee. I’m sorry but when you are travelling at a certain speed and you are trying to manipulate the ball and you get hit, I couldn’t believe it.

“I couldn’t believe the pundits were saying it was a soft decision. It was an absolute stonewall decision.

“He has hit Eriksen and they went on to score the goal, let’s be honest, the cameras don’t lie. That is when VAR should be doing its work.

“It was a great decision by the referee despite learned pundits who have played at the top level saying it wasn’t a foul, of course it was a foul.

“All day long it was a foul. When you hit someone in the side of the knee when he is about to execute a pass, it’s a foul.

“Even if you think it is soft, it’s a foul.”

Man United eventually won the game 3-1.

A Marcus Rashford brace and a debut strike from Antony meant Bukayo Saka’s second-half goal proved only a consolation.

In other news, Paul Robinson ‘100 per cent’ sure on Raphael Varane after ‘brilliant’ Man United reveal.