Gabriel Jesus dismisses complaints over Alejandro Garnacho’s disallowed goal in Arsenal win over Manchester United

Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus has dismissed any controversy surrounding the offside goal in his side’s 3-1 win over Manchester United on Sunday, claiming referee Anthony Taylor made some ‘bad decisions’ during the match.

The Gunners continued their unbeaten start to the new Premier League season with a dramatic victory at the Emirates, though the result was far from routine.

Although United showed little intent for large periods of the match, a swift counter-attack in the 27th minute released Marcus Rashford who thundered a shot into the far corner.

Martin Odegaard hit back within seconds of the restart and the match quickly became a cagey affair once again until substitute Alejandro Garnacho raced through on goal and slotted past Aaron Ramsdale in the 89th minute.

It looked as though the Red Devils had snatched all three points, but after a lengthy VAR check the goal was ruled out for a very marginal offside call.

Galvanised by Lucky Escape

Galvanised by their lucky escape, Arsenal surged forward and took the lead at the death through Declan Rice’s 96th-minute deflected effort before Jesus added some extra gloss to the scoreline in the 101st minute.

Erik Ten Hag was livid with the officiating afterwards and claimed the VAR had used the ‘wrong angle’ to draw the lines for Garnacho’s offside goal, while the Dutchman also felt his side were denied a penalty and should have been awarded a free-kick on Jonny Evans when Rice scored.

Jesus Dismisses Complaints

But Jesus is paying no attention to Ten Hag’s complaints and feels it was Arsenal – who saw a penalty somewhat surprisingly overturned – who were on the wrong side of the officiating and felt Garnacho’s effort should not have stood regardless of the offside.

“There were some bad decisions from the referee,” the Brazilian told reporters after the match. “Even with their [disallowed] goal maybe it was a foul on me, but thankfully it was offside.”

Returning to Action

Jesus, who underwent surgery in pre-season, was delighted to return to action and score, continuing: “I’m feeling good. It’s tough when you come back [to an] injury after a holiday. I started to feel my knee again, it was unlucky.

“After pre-season, you go again, but you feel in pain. I made the decision to do surgery as quickly as possible to come back stronger. It was tough, but now I’m getting back. It’s so important to find the rhythm again. So, I’m back, I feel good and I’m happy.”

“At the end of last season I was completely fine, I felt nothing. Then I went on holiday and felt nothing. When I came back, in the first week, still nothing. Then, after that, I started to feel it.

“And for me it was [a case of], ‘If I’m not 100 per cent, I won’t be myself’. I was trying, I was keeping playing and training. I was feeling it a little bit, but for me it was nothing. But then we hit a point when I couldn’t run or move, so I decided to do a surgery — and that was it.”

Grateful for Life

“First day is s**t when you find out but the day after you realise you have to keep going, fighting and smile. God’s given me a life, God let me wake up every morning so I have to be grateful. I’m blessed. I can walk, I can be here, I can smile. So there’s nothing to complain about. Just believe in God and keep fighting.”

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