Australian referee Jarred Gillett has come under fire for his involvement in Manchester City's 2-1 win over Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.
Gillett, who sealed his own promotion to the top-flight this season, was in charge of VAR for the contest which saw City come from a goal down to win the match in injury time.
The Premier League leaders equalised via a second-half penalty from Riyad Mahrez after Gillett had flagged for on-field referee Stuart Attwell to review a challenge from Granit Xhaka on Bernardo Silva.
While arguably the right decision, Arsenal were fuming after Gillett didn't earlier call for greater scrutiny when Martin Odegaard went down in the box after just 12 minutes.
“Confusing is the right word, we are looking for consistency. For me the Odegaard one is a clear penalty," Arsenal assistant manager Albert Stuivenberg said post-match.
Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale added: “I don’t know why the referee is told to see one and not the other.
“It [the monitor] is there for a reason, so go and use it. It is the inconsistency. The whole point is to help the game out. In real time it did not look like a penalty but slow it down on a screen and it is given."
On social media, fans and pundits were quick to target Gillett for his role in the loss as VAR and its implementation continues to cause frustration.
VAR will not work properly in @premierleague until the quality of the officials is improved. Inconsistency over the 2 #ARSMCI penalties, both were pens, only 1 given. Frustrates fans, players. Ruins game. Some good refs but overall quality not good enough for an elite competition
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) January 1, 2022
Jarred Gillett should be back in Australia. VAR is a joke already and don’t need more clowns like him anywhere near it. #ARSMCI
— 𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚋𝚊 (@fitbaa) January 1, 2022
Stuart Attwell was atrocious today.
— WestStandTone (@WestStandTone) January 1, 2022
Jarred Gillett was the VAR today. He’s the same VAR that disallowed that Sokratis goal, against Crystal Palace, for something nobody else could see.
He is still doing the same job and still making the same “errors”.
It has to be bent.
Jarred Gillett has had so many inexplicable decisions which have negatively affected Arsenal.
— Grumbling Gooner (@GoonerGrumble) January 1, 2022
When I saw him mic'd up in the Australian league I thought he was a very good referee with top communication. But now I think he's either prejudiced, incompetent, or both.#ARSMCI #ars
Gillett was notably involved in two Premier League games on January 1 as he swapped VAR duties at the Emirates to be a fourth official when Crystal Palace hosted West Ham in the evening.
The 35-year-old has been the main referee for four Premier League matches so far this season along with five games in the Championship.