Mikel Arteta hit out at VAR again as Arsenal fell to a shock home defeat by West Ham, blowing their chance to regain top spot.
The result was David Moyes’s first away league victory against the old ‘big four’ of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United — at the 73rd time of asking.
Tomas Soucek controversially opened the scoring in the first half, with VAR unable to determine whether the ball had gone out before Jarrod Bowen’s cross.
Former Gunner Konstantinos Mavropanos doubled the lead after half-time to seal the victory.
Gunners manager Arteta said: ‘If the technology we have at the moment is not good enough to give us that answer (of whether the ball went out), what we have to do is, without that, win the game.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta claimed technology is ‘not good enough’ after Tomas Soucek’s goal
VAR was unable to determine if the ball went out before Jarrod Bowen crossed for the opener
Soucek’s goal was eventually awarded as West Ham secured a shock 2-0 win over Arsenal
‘I haven’t seen it. They’re saying it’s not conclusive. It’s a shame that with the technology we have, it’s not that clear so we can say whether it’s out or in.
‘It’s done. It’s gone. There’s nothing we can do about it now.’
Arsenal, who managed 30 shots to West Ham’s six, have now picked up only four points in their last four league matches.
Moyes said on his historic night: ‘It was a brilliant defensive job, terrific structure, organisation and discipline. They had lots of the ball, too much for my liking, but we did a great job.
‘Arsenal played incredibly well and put us under so much pressure, but we have to say a big part of football is defensive. Sometimes you don’t want to talk too much about it but we did a really good job.
‘Arsenal used to make a living doing that here if you remember. I thought we defended fantastically well.’
David Moyes hailed West Ham’s defence display after his first away win over a ‘big four’ team
On the VAR incident for Soucek’s goal, he added: ‘I hadn’t even thought about it. I just got the reaction from the players that nobody thought for a minute that there was anything up with the goal.
‘It must have been close because of the time it took to decide.’
Moyes is out of contract at the end of the season and added: ‘We are getting ready to talk. I don’t think any of us are getting it done too quickly. I don’t see any problems with that.’
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