Arteta calls Ola Aina handball a ‘very clear penalty’ (0:39)Mikel Arteta questions the decision not to award Arsenal a late penalty in their goalless draw with Nottingham Forest. (0:39)
Andy Davies, Special to ESPNJan 19, 2026, 03:30 AM ET
Video assistant referee causes controversy every week in the Premier League, but how are decisions made and are they correct?
Andy Davies (@andydaviesref) is a former Select Group referee, with over 12 seasons on the elite list, working across the Premier League and Championship. With extensive experience at the elite level, he has operated within the VAR space in the Premier League and offers a unique insight into the processes, rationale and protocols that are delivered on a Premier League matchday.
Referee: Michael Oliver VAR: Darren England Time: 80 minutes Incident: Possible penalty for handball
VAR decision: The referee’s call of no penalty to Arsenal was checked and confirmed by VAR — with it deemed that the ball was played off Aina’s shoulder first, while his arm was also in a natural position.
VAR review: Referee Michael Oliver was completely unsighted of any potential offense in this situation. Therefore, the judgment as to whether this incident was worthy of an on-field review (OFR) was entirely down to VAR Darren England.
For a VAR intervention in this situation, certainly one with no live communication of the incident from the referee, he would need to have absolute evidence, clear of any mitigating circumstances, that an offense has been committed by the Forest player and missed by the refereeing team.
England looked at the replays many times, finally saying that the ball had deflected off Aina’s shoulder and onto his arm, which he also felt was in a natural position for Aina’s movement at that moment.
Verdict: Despite the rationale offered for a non-intervention by the VAR, the Forest defender can, in my opinion, feel fortunate that this incident did not go to an on-field review and subsequent penalty award.
England clearly felt that there were too many “possibles” and not enough “definites” in this incident and therefore didn’t feel it met the criteria for an obvious error — an outcome that will certainly divide opinion.
What happened: Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot was late with a challenge on Jérémy Doku, catching the Manchester City attacker high on the knee. The on-field decision from referee Anthony Taylor was a yellow card, confirmed by VAR Craig Pawson.
Verdict: Without doubt, this will be a major talking point of this derby match — especially as it was just 10 minutes in, and United went on to win the game.
Having watched the replays, Pawson would have felt uncomfortable given the nature of the challenge. However, considering the timing of the incident, he would not have felt that the replays offered enough evidence to recommend an on-field review and would have worked hard to make the pictures concur with the on-field decision of yellow card as opposed to red.
I feel for Pawson and understand his rationale in this situation, but I believe a red card would be expected in this incident. The nature of the challenge was dangerous, completely unnecessary and certainly endangered the safety of his opponent.
Arteta calls Ola Aina handball a ‘very clear penalty’ (0:39)Mikel Arteta questions the decision not to award Arsenal a late penalty in their goalless draw with Nottingham Forest. (0:39)
Mikel Arteta questions the decision not to award Arsenal a late penalty in their goalless draw with Nottingham Forest. (0:39)
Referee: Anthony Taylor VAR: Craig Pawson Time: 10 minutes Incident: Red card challenge