Former PGMOL chief delivers his judgement on the call to award Eze’s goal in the Arsenal vs Spurs clash.

Eberechi Eze stole the spotlight on Sunday as an injury-hit Arsenal claimed victory in the first North London Derby of the 2025/26 season. The playmaker fired in a brilliant hat-trick, though his second goal sparked debate — prompting former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett to weigh in on the incident.

Tottenham’s only real moment of excitement came when Richarlison chipped David Raya in the 55th minute, but it did little to change the flow of a match dominated by Arsenal, who have now beaten Spurs four times in a row. Eze’s second and third goals were straightforward, but his first — scored four minutes before half-time — caused frustration among the travelling Spurs supporters. After receiving the ball from Declan Rice, he weaved past two defenders and fired beyond Guglielmo Vicario, despite several Arsenal players standing between him and the goal.

The controversy centred on whether Vicario’s view had been obstructed. Referee Michael Oliver allowed the goal, and VAR upheld the decision after checking whether any Arsenal player had blocked the keeper’s line of sight. The Premier League later clarified on X (formerly Twitter) that no Arsenal player interfered with Vicario’s vision or made movements that impacted an opponent from an offside position.

Speaking to Football Insider, Hackett agreed with the officials’ call. He said replays clearly showed Vicario had a clean view of the effort and that the offside players were far enough away not to influence the play. He compared the incident to previous decisions — including Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed header against Manchester City — stressing the need for consistency and arguing that offside shouldn’t be used to chalk off legitimate goals.

Arsenal’s 4–1 win over Thomas Frank’s side extends their lead at the top of the Premier League to six points ahead of Chelsea as they push to end their 20-year title drought. Spurs, meanwhile, slip to ninth and will aim to bounce back against Fulham next weekend.