Wayne Rooney believes that Arsenal's improvised striker Mikel Merino should have had a goal against PSV for wandering offside.
Merino kept Arsenal's third goal away in the Philips Stadium on Tuesday evening while they walked Riot in the Champions League and completed a sensational 7-1 victory.
It was Merino's third goal as a striker for emergency situations for the men of Mikel Arteta – after two against Leicester – but it was full of controversy.
The Spaniard was offside when Jurrien Timber played a blow, who came from the leg of PSV defender Ryan Flamingo.
Flamingo seemed to move to block the ball, but his head was turned and when Merino scored a little later after a further error from the Dutchman, there was a lot of debate.
“I think it's offside. Merino has made a good run, but then the defender has to block the ball and he is offside, “Rooney told Amazon Prime Video.
'Furthermore, the schoolboy is defending, miserably defending, really good finish. But the first run is offside, the defender has to take an action to prevent the ball from continuing, so the attacker influences the defender, so from my point of view it should be offside.
“The defender doesn't even look at the ball, he turned his head away, so he can't know what he is doing with the ball. I don't see how they came to the decision that he had the ball under control.
Theo Walcott Chimed in: 'I can understand Wayne's position. I have to agree, the player has no control over the ball, that is where the law is wrong.
“The defense is comical. It is a great finish, he is in that position to store it. It is the long wait that I can't stand, the VAR, why it takes so long to make a decision. '
Former referee Mark Clattenburg added: 'It is a very subjective call. When the ball is played, Merino is in a offside position and the defender deliberately plays the ball or does he block the ball?
'I agree with Wayne that he is blocking the ball and that it is therefore not in a controlled way and should have been given as offside. But he (the referee) believes that he deliberately played the ball through that action of sliding, he believes it is a deliberate game, and that's why they gave the goal, but I disagree. '
Arsenal expected a tough test of their Champions League references, but after a promising start that almost saw them score, PSV brought them off.
Timber, Ethan Nwaneri and Merino all scored to send Arsenal in 3-1 during the break, after the Penalty of Noa long gave the hosts a glimpse of light.
But Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard both scored within three minutes after the restart to dampen hope from the Dutch side.
Odegaard added another later, while Riccardo Calafiori also came up with the action.
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