Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta played a decisive role in his team's third goal against Watford on Sunday, but the goal was marred by an arbitration "gag", according to a former English referee.
In the match that brought the two teams together in the English Premier League, Arteta jumped from the area designated for him to pick up a rebound and immediately passed it to Bukayo Saka;
Then he reached the Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli and scored a third goal for his team, and put Arsenal in the lead 3-1, before Watford returned and snatched a goal minutes before the end of the match, but the match ended with the "gunners" winning 3-2.
The goal - to which Arteta contributed due to his quick and clever reaction - was decisive and allowed the London team to tighten its grip on the victory and win the three points.
Arteta refused to take credit for the goal, but admitted he was happy to contribute to his team's victory.
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"If you help the team a little bit to get what we wanted, that's exactly what we need... Everyone can contribute in some way and I had the opportunity to do that."
This moment here represents everything Mikel Arteta is trying to implement into his players while they're on the pitch.
Quick thinking can lead to opportunities & opportunities can lead to goals and Mikel Arteta showed that himself with Arsenal's third goal.
Arteta assist…😉 pic.twitter.com/HjcP3pMBP9
— now.arsenal (@now_arsenaI) March 6, 2022
But former English referee Dermot Gallagher - who was a referee in the Premier League for 15 years - highlighted Arteta's behavior.
He revealed that the fourth official had to intervene to prevent the Arsenal coach from leaving his area and handing Saka the ball.
He told Sky Sports, "The fourth official is the only one in the bench duct area, and his job is to monitor the coaches, and he was supposed to prevent him from leaving his area and entering the field... I don't know if he was too slow to get out and stop him."
"He's become almost a ball-boy."
Dermot Gallagher says Mikel Arteta was only guilty of leaving his technical area in the build-up to Arsenal's third goal #RefWatch pic.twitter.com/z6MoyEhwoU
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) March 7, 2022
He confirmed that Arteta committed "a violation because he almost became a football player, and returned the ball to the field again. If he let the ball pass in front of him, almost everyone would have complained more.. But we are talking about this because the incident led to a goal.. That is why it is a violation."
According to the Laws of the Game, any coach in his area "shall act responsibly", with the fourth official being able to alert the referee if anyone breaks this rule.
The rules also state that coaches "shall remain" in their technical area in all situations other than "special circumstances".
It appears that Arteta broke this rule and could have been punished by the referee.
A win could prove decisive for both teams at the end of the season, as Arsenal moved into the top four qualifying spots for the Champions League, while Watford remained 3 points behind the relegation zone.