In a galaxy VAR VAR away
SCOTT PARKER believes Fulham were victims of VAR as Arsenal scored a heart-breaking 96th-minute equaliser.
The Cottagers looked set for a vital win in their relegation battle after Josh Maja netted a second-half penalty.
But Fulham remain six points from safety after Eddie Nketiah tapped home in injury time despite Rob Holding standing in an offside position when keeper Alphonse Areola saved Dani Ceballos’ low shot.
Ref Craig Pawson awarded the goal after consultation with VAR official Stuart Atwell.
But Parker said: “The difference today was the final kick of the game and a decision I didn’t agree with.
“We’ve got the best keeper in the division bar none in terms of controlling his box.
“He doesn’t know Holding is in an offside position so he has to react to that.
“If he isn’t there my keeper comes and collects, brings it into his body, and the ball never reaches the back post.
“I know now what we will be said. It will be that he didn’t attempt to play the ball.
“It’s an irrelevance whether he attempted to play the ball when someone is two yards away from the goal. Players are reacting in milliseconds.
“Maybe by the letter of the law, it’s the correct decision but deep down, we’ve all been in football, I’ve played football for a long time, I don’t think it is.
“These are all things that I don’t understand.
“It’s something we all need to do as coaches. We’ll probably have to coach it, stand players offside.”
Fulham have dropped 13 points from winning positions away from home – the most in the Premier League.
Parker said: “I’m absolutely gutted and the last two weeks have been a real kick.
“But we wake up tomorrow morning, gloves back on and we go again. We keep fighting.”
Goalscorer Maja added: “It is a bitter one, we gave our all to get the win and in the last minute they score a contentious goal. We have to take the positives and go again.”
Arsenal fear that striker Alexandre Lacazette’s season may be over after he suffered a hamstring injury yesterday.
He has hit four in two games and Gunners boss Mikel Arteta, already without skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as he recovers from malaria, said: “We will have scans and see the extent of the injury.
“I cannot tell you if it is going to be a week or five or six weeks. We are all disappointed because we know that Laca was on form.”