'Clearly': Gary Lineker delivers his verdict on William Saliba and Joao Pedro penalty decision

01/05/2025 02:27 AM

For the second time this season, Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion shared the spoils in the Premier League, with a 1-1 draw at the Amex Stadium replicating their previous scoreline in north London.

Back in August, Brighton's comeback against Arsenal was equally as controversial as events on Saturday evening down on the south coast.

On that occasion, Declan Rice received a hot-debated red card, one that many thought was extremely harsh for the most minimal contact with the ball, which was deemed to be 'delaying the restart'.

Now, in a draw that will seriously hurt Arsenal's chances of winning the Premier League, Brighton's penalty to bring the game back level was equally farcical in the eyes of some.

William Saliba was adjudged to have fouled Joao Pedro due to a clash of heads in the box, a decision Anthony Taylor made on pitch, and one that wasn't interfered with by VAR.

Gary Lineker has ‘never’ seen a penalty awarded for a head collision

Speaking alongside Danny Murphy and Micah Richards on Match of the Day, Gary Lineker shared his thoughts on the decision, a penalty decision that all three pundits thought was wrong.

Lineker himself said that he had 'never' seen a decision like it in all his time watching football, a moment that Arsenal can rightly feel aggrieved about.

READ MORE: Mikel Arteta has 'really bad news' about why he took Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri off in 1-1 draw against Brighton

Responding to Fabian Hurzeler’s post-match comments, Lineker said: "Not quite the truth I don't think as we'll show you now, I think Mikel Arteta is absolutely spot on – it [the ball] was clearly headed by Saliba."

Richards replied: "I can understand why people think it's a penalty – I don't think it's a penalty, because he heads the ball as well and you'll see it clearly on the third angle here.

"As the ball comes in, you can clearly see that Saliba heads the ball, so I don't think that is a penalty."

Murphy added: "I don't think it's a penalty, they both head the ball before they clash, they're both genuinely going for it, it's a coming together.

"The other thing is, why now? We've never seen it before."

Lineker: "Never ever have we seen penalties given for head clashes.

"I've watched football for far too long and I've never seen a penalty given for a clash of heads, it happens in every corner almost."

Why didn’t VAR overturn William Saliba penalty decision?

Premier League Match Centre did share VAR's reasoning for sticking with Taylor's decision, posting on X during the game.

It was deemed that there was 'sufficient contact' for a foul inside the box, a decision that left Arteta beyond frustrated.

They wrote: "The referee's call of penalty for a foul by Saliba on Joao Pedro was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed there was sufficient contact for a penalty."

Despite the result, Ian Wright was fairly pleased with Arsenal, saying that it was important not to lose given the circumstances away from home.

Although, many Arsenal supporters will be worried by another lacklustre performance, particularly in the second half.

Right now, Arteta's side are showing very little evidence that they're capable of catching Liverpool, an effort that isn't been helped by decisions similar to the penalty call debated.