Howard Webb responds to Erik ten Hag’s comments on Man United vs Arsenal offside decision

Howard Webb, chief refereeing officer at PGMOL, has stated that he was ‘surprised’ by Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag’s complaints about Alejandro Garnacho’s offside goal against Arsenal.

The Reds lost 3-1 against The Gunners on Sunday afternoon following two stoppage-time goals from Mikel Arteta’s side.

However, minutes earlier it seemed like United could’ve been the team leaving North London with three points. Alejandro Garnacho burst in behind the Arsenal defence after a pass from Casemiro and slotted the ball under Aaron Ramsdale.

However, the VAR ruled the Argentine offside following the move but Ten Hag suggested after the match that the wrong angle was used for the incident, alongside other complaints about the officiating.

“The performance is right, we played a good game but everything went against us. And then you don’t win the game,” he said.

“You saw the game, it’s not offside, that is the wrong angle, then a penalty on Hojlund, we concede a goal and that is a foul on Jonny Evans.”

Webb, 52, officiated in the Premier League for 11 years between 2003 and 2014 and is now the face of PGMOL and seems to be regularly on the phone with managers and clubs to apologise for poor decisions.

However, that was not the case in this instance, with the former official reiterating that it was a ‘clear’ offside and that the appropriate camera angles were used.

“I was surprised by some of the comments post-game on this,” Webb said on Sky Sports’ Match Officials Mic’d Up. “It’s a clear offside situation, the technology was used quite rightly from the calibrated cameras to identify that Garnacho was ahead of Gabriel and the goal was quite rightly disallowed after initially being awarded on the field incorrectly.”

United have won just two of their opening four league fixtures of the season and will be looking to improve when games return after the international break.