KMI Panel Says Brighton Missed Penalty vs Arsenal
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- KMI Panel voted 4:1 that a spot‑kick should have been awarded to Brighton after Gabriel Martinelli hauled Mats Wieffer to the ground in first‑half stoppage time on 4 March.
- Brighton were trailing 1‑0 after Bukayo Saka’s ninth‑minute goal and ultimately lost the match 1‑0 at home to Arsenal.
- VAR official Michael Salisbury cleared the incident on the field, and the Premier League Match Centre later said there was 'no clear and obvious error'.
- KMI Panel also recorded a 3:2 vote that the missed VAR intervention was an error, overturning the on‑field decision.
- Arsenal have now escaped a VAR penalty twice this season in one‑goal victories, while the panel logged 18 VAR errors this season—matching the total for the whole 2024‑25 campaign but below the 35 and 31 errors of the two prior seasons.
- Other incidents highlighted by the panel include missed penalties for Everton (December) and Chelsea (handball by Declan Rice), and an erroneous second‑yellow dismissal of Newcastle’s Jacob Ramsey.
Why it matters: Brighton missed a chance to level the score, while Arsenal avoided a potential equaliser, highlighting a missed VAR intervention that the KMI Panel flagged. The panel’s tally of 18 errors this season—matching last year’s total but down from 35 and 31 in the two prior campaigns—suggests a modest reduction in VAR mistakes but underscores lingering controversy over critical calls.
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