“It’s a robbery in broad daylight. There is a clear touch on the arm before he shoots. I don’t know what the VAR is looking at, but they’ve effectively decided the title race today. You cannot allow goals like that to stand at this level”, internal reports reveal Mikel Arteta’s ‘Furious’ reaction to the Dorgu handball scandal

The VAR Title Tilt: Arteta’s “Robbery” Outcry as Handball Scandal Ignites Premier League Firestorm

In the superheated, pressure-laden final stretch of a Premier League title race, where millimeters can decide destinies and every dropped point feels like a mortal wound, the line between competitive fury and a profound sense of injustice becomes perilously thin. For Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, that line was not merely crossed but obliterated in the aftermath of a pivotal moment that he believes has irrevocably altered the championship landscape. According to explosive internal reports, the Spaniard’s reaction in the sanctum of the dressing room and among his staff was one of unvarnished, volcanic outrage, framed not as a missed call, but as an act of sporting theft with historic consequences.

**”It’s a robbery in broad daylight,”** Arteta is reported to have declared, a phrase that leaves no room for debate or interpretation. This is not the language of a manager bemoaning a 50/50 decision; it is the accusation of a crime, a deliberate and visible act of injustice. The specificity of his technical argument underscores his conviction: **”There is a clear touch on the arm before he shoots.”** Arteta is pointing not to a vague, debatable sequence, but to a tangible, identifiable point of illegal contact that, in his unwavering view, should have invalidated the ensuing goal.

His fury then pivots from the act itself to the system designed to prevent such errors. **”I don’t know what the VAR is looking at, but they’ve effectively decided the title race today.”** This is the true incendiary core of his reaction. It moves beyond criticizing a mistake to accusing the officials of catastrophic, league-altering negligence. The phrase “effectively decided the title race” is a staggering charge. It suggests that the Video Assistant Referee’s failure to intervene was not just a bad moment, but an epoch-defining error—one that has handed an irreversible advantage to a rival. In Arteta’s inflamed perspective, the officials have become not impartial arbiters, but the de facto authors of the season’s climax.

His final statement is a damning verdict on the standards of the competition itself. **”You cannot allow goals like that to stand at this level.”** This speaks to a fundamental breach of protocol and quality. “This level” is the Premier League, a competition that markets itself as the pinnacle of the sport. Allowing a goal with a “clear” preceding handball to stand, in Arteta’s view, is an affront to that status, a failure that undermines the integrity of every result and the immense effort invested by the players.

The Anatomy of a “Robbery”: Why This Cuts So Deep

The reported intensity of Arteta’s reaction is rooted in several factors:
1. **The Stakes:** In a title race decided by the finest margins, a single goal conceded from a perceived injustice is psychologically and mathematically devastating.
2. **The Clarity (In His View):** Arteta’s insistence on a “clear touch” suggests he sees no subjectivity. This wasn’t a ball brushing a sleeve from point-blank range; it was, to him, an obvious offence missed by multiple officials with the aid of technology.
3. **The VAR Paradox:** The existence of VAR, touted as the solution to such injustices, makes the error feel more egregious, not less. It transforms a mistake into a systemic failure.

Ripple Effect: Beyond a Single Result

Arteta’s words, if reflected in any public comments, will trigger a seismic reaction. It will supercharge Arsenal’s sense of grievance, potentially uniting the squad and fanbase in a “them against us” mentality for the run-in. Simultaneously, it will draw immense scrutiny and pressure onto PGMOL and the specific VAR officials involved, likely triggering another round of agonizing public explanations and apologies that do nothing to restore the lost point.

Conclusion: A Scar on the Run-In

Whether one agrees with Arteta’s assessment of the handball or not, his reported reaction reveals the raw nerve that has been struck. This is no longer about a single incident in a single match. For Arsenal and their manager, it is about the fundamental fairness of the competition at its most critical hour.

The “Dorgu handball scandal,” as framed by Arteta’s furious internal outburst, is now more than a controversy; it is a catalyst. It has introduced a narrative of institutional failure and stolen destiny into the title race. That sense of “robbery” will now fuel Arsenal’s remaining games, while casting a long, contentious shadow over the eventual destination of the Premier League trophy. The verdict from the pitch may stand, but the verdict from the Arsenal camp is one of profound, season-defining injustice.