Brighton & Hove Albion should have been awarded a penalty during their 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal on 4 March, according to the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel. This marks the second time this season that Arsenal avoided conceding a VAR-awarded penalty in a narrow one-goal win.
The incident occurred in the third minute of first-half stoppage time. A cross from the left saw Brighton midfielder Mats Wieffer attempt to challenge for the ball inside the box but was held to the ground by Gabriel Martinelli. Referee Chris Kavanagh allowed play to continue, and VAR, led by Michael Salisbury, did not intervene.
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler voiced his frustration to the fourth official, exchanging words with Mikel Arteta on the touchline. The Premier League Match Centre initially stated that VAR saw “no clear and obvious error.”
However, the KMI Panel later voted 4-1 that a penalty should have been awarded and 3-2 that VAR missed the correct intervention. The panel concluded: “Martinelli is not looking at the ball, holds Wieffer into the area, and prevents the Brighton player from challenging for the ball.”
Earlier this season, VAR also failed to award Everton a penalty for a challenge by William Saliba on Thierno Barry, and Chelsea missed a spot-kick for Declan Rice’s handball against Arsenal.
This season, the independent panel has logged 18 VAR errors, matching the total for the 2024–25 campaign but lower than the 35 mistakes in 2022–23 and 31 in 2023–24. Other recent errors include a missed penalty for Leeds United against Sunderland and a wrongful second yellow card for Jacob Ramsey during Newcastle’s 2-1 win over Manchester United.
The KMI Panel highlighted that Ramsey’s left foot slipped as he ran past the goalkeeper, meaning there was no attempt to deceive the referee. Starting next season, VAR will review second yellow cards in limited situations, only overturning them if the initial foul itself was wrongly called.
This Brighton vs Arsenal decision underscores ongoing concerns about VAR consistency and its impact on match outcomes in the Premier League.
