Arsenal's Arteta praises courage of referee after pivotal decision

LONDON, May 10 : Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised the courage of referee Chris Kavanagh for disallowing a West Ham United equaliser as his side snatched a 1-0 victory to move closer to securing the Premier League title on Sunday.

Yet his crestfallen opposite number Nuno Espirito Santo called for an end to the confusion over incidents at corners as Callum Wilson's stoppage-time goal was ruled out for interference on keeper David Raya after a lengthy VAR check.

Arsenal were protecting the lead given to them by Leandro Trossard's first goal since December when West Ham won a corner.

As the ball was swung over into a jam-packed area, Raya pushed the ball away under pressure from West Ham substitute Pablo before Wilson drove a shot home to spark wild celebrations among the home fans and despair at the Arsenal end.

But after a near three-minute VAR check, Kavanagh was invited to look at the incident on the pitch-side monitor and after many replays he disallowed the goal - arguably correctly as Raya did appear to be impeded by Pablo's arm.

There was huge relief at the final whistle as Arsenal restored their five-point lead over Manchester City with games against Burnley and Crystal Palace left.

"The referee and the VAR today had a lot of courage to stop and analyse the action and give the opportunity to the referee to make the call," Arteta said.

"I think nobody would disagree that it is a clear foul because David has the ball almost in his hands and they don't allow him to do that and they take advantage to score the goal.

"It was an obvious error, it is a free kick and the goal has to be disallowed. Today I have realised how difficult and how big the referee's job is."

'THE ONLY FOCUS IS BURNLEY'

Should City fail to beat Crystal