Arsenal handed penalty verdict vs Chelsea after Gabriel Martinelli incident and VAR decision

Gary Neville has explained why Chelseastar Trevoh Chalobah ‘took a risk’ with a tackle on Gabriel Martinelli that led to a penalty check for Arsenalin the Carabao Cup semi-final. The Gunners claimed a 1-0 win in the second leg of the semi-final at the Emirates Stadium to book their place in the final at Wembley Stadium.

Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the game in stoppage time to hand Arsenal a 1-0 victory over the Blues, which clinched a 4-2 victory on aggregate to book their place in next month’s final.

Even though Arsenalgot the win with a last-minute goal, the Gunners had appeals for a penalty in the closing stages of the game.

Arsenal appealed for a spot-kick for a tackle from Chalobahon Martinelli, with the Gunners believing that the challenge was worthy of a penalty.

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Referee Peter Bankes did not award a penalty on the pitch, and the decision was subsequently checked and cleared by VAR, with the decision of no penalty confirmed.

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Neville was on commentary duty for Sky Sports’ coverage of the match at the Emirates Stadium, and explained why he believes the challenge was a “risk” from the Chelsea defender.

"I think he [Chalobah] gets the ball initially and it's the follow-through that looks a little bit ugly,” Neville said.

"He's lunging out and from where we were, you see he gets the ball. It's the follow-through he takes a risk on but it's a silly thing to do because he gets the ball initially.

"When he sweeps his leg with that left foot.”

Sky Sports commentator Peter Drury then passed on the message from James Bell, who was on VAR duty, as to why the decision of no penalty remained unchanged after a check.

"The VAR is saying that it is checked and cleared and, in the words of James Bell, there is natural contact after he plays the ball,” Drury said.

Neville then responded by disagreeing with the verdict from VAR, where the Manchester United legend said: "It wasn't natural. He [Chalobah] sweeps his left leg up in the air, which he didn't need to do because he made a good challenge.

“It was always the follow-through that I thought was the danger for him, you can see why it wasn't given."

Arsenal will now look ahead to the Carabao Cup final, which is scheduled to take place on March 22 at Wembley. As a result, the Gunners’ Premier League clash against Wolves, which is pencilled in to be played that same weekend, will need to be rearranged.