Explained: Mikel Arteta won't be happy! Why West Ham's controversial goal counted against Arsenal as VAR faces repeat of Newcastle effort that sparked huge rant from Gunners coach

Tomas Soucek fired the away side into the lead after a cross from Jarrod Bowen, but it appeared that the ball may have crossed the byline as the latter played it into the middle. A lengthy VAR review followed and the goal was eventually given, but the debate about whether the ball was in or out of play will likely rage on.

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg explained why VAR did not overturn the decision to award the goal. He said on Amazon Prime: "There's no other decision that the match officials can give. The assistant referee who's on the goal line doesn't see that the ball has clearly gone out of play so the onfield decision is a goal. When you look at all the evidence we've just seen, we cannot be 100 percent certain that the ball has gone out. One side of the argument from an Arsenal fan they'll see we can see a little bit of daylight. From a West Ham point of view, you can clearly argue that the leg is slightly on the line, so as the ball has to be clearly over the line, there's no conclusicve evidence... They need basically two reference points. One is the goal line, which they have, but unfortunately the other point of reference they need is the ball and because the ball is being blocked by Jarrod Bowen's thigh, it blocks the chance to use that reference point."

The decision will spark memories of the controversial goal that Arsenal conceded against Newcastle earlier in the season which saw Arteta fly into a frenzy towards the referee's call on the night to allow Anthony Gordon's goal to stand despite three separate VAR checks. Arteta was eventually let off the hook for his comments towards the referee by the FA.

The loss means that Arsenal have squandered their lead at the top of the table to Liverpool and that they are within touching distance of Manchester City who will be three points off the London outfit with a game in hand. The Gunners will play Fulham next on New Year's Eve in hopes of finishing the year on top of the table.