🚨 Furious Alan Shearer Names Newcastle United Star who deserves Footballer of the Year Over Bruno Fernandes

In second-half stoppage time, West Ham thought they had levelled and snatched a valuable point, only for the strike to be ruled out for a foul on Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya after a four-minute VAR check.

Most pundits, including Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville, praised Kavanagh for handling the situation well and ultimately making the right decision, although Shay Given and Peter Schmeichel disagreed.

The former United shot-stopper told Viaplay: “What really makes me angry is that Arsenal would never be top of the league if that’s a free-kick.

“That’s how they’ve scored so many goals by blocking people, holding people, doing all kinds of things.

“And then we get to this point. It takes VAR five minutes – Darren England, the VAR – it takes five minutes.

“He starts it over again and again… that in itself puts so much doubt into that decision that it cannot be a free-kick.

“I think it’s so wrong. I just don’t understand why all of a sudden that’s a free-kick, because it hasn’t been for any teams all the way throughout the season.

“All this it’s just crazy. And that decision today, it’s just so wrong on so many levels.”

Meanwhile, former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann, who appeared on Match of the Day 2, believes a change to the game’s laws may be needed to prevent a similar debate in future.

Cann, who was a match official for over two decades, said: “I feel that the time has come now for a law change whereby no attackers are allowed in the six-yard box before the corner is taken.

“At goal-kicks, forwards are not allowed in the penalty area, but at corners they shouldn’t be allowed in the six-yard box until the ball is in play.

“So this would create that natural separation and eradicate these kinds of situations.”