Eberechi Eze was the man of the moment on Sunday as Arsenal, amid a raft of injury issues, reigned triumphant in the first North London Derby of the 2025/26 campaign against Tottenham Hotspur. With a hat-trick of goals encapsulating the playmaker's rousing performance, there were question marks raised over his second strike of the affair – and former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has now provided his verdict.
Richarlison, in the 55th minute, may have caught David Raya off his line with his wonderfully-lifted effort over the Spanish goalkeeper – but there were very few moments from a Spurs perspective to lift bums off seats. That isn't the case for Arsenal, who have now won four straight consecutive matches against their arch-rivals, and they have Eze to thank for his three-goal haul.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Eberechi Eze's hat-trick against Spurs is the first in a North London Derby since Alan Sunderland back in December 1978.
There were no problems with his second and third strike – but the England international's first goal, four minutes shy of the half-time interval, raised the eyebrows of the travelling Spurs contingent. Eze was found by compatriot Declan Rice, and he carefully skipped beyond two challenges before netting past Guglielmo Vicario. His shot managed to evade the number of Arsenal shirts between him and the goal.
Keith Hackett Provides Clear Verdict on Whether Eze's Second Goal Should've Been Disallowed
And that's exactly why Arsenal's second – and Eze's first – of the encounter was highly contentious, as Vicario claimed that he was unable to see because of the melee of bodies in his eyeline. Referee Michael Oliver awarded the goal in controversial circumstances before VAR checked and cleared the 41st-minute strike which saw the Gunners double their lead before the half-time whistle.
The Premier League – in the hopes of clearing up the situation – took to X (formerly Twitter) to suggest there were no Arsenal players were in Vicario's line of vision. "The referee's call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that there were no Arsenal players in the line of vision of the goalkeeper, and they made no movement to impact an opponent while in an offside position."
Hackett, speaking to Football Insider, believes that Oliver and his refereeing entourage made the right decision on Sunday by allowing Eze's goal to stand amid cries from those associated to the visiting side. "I think, from my point of view, when you actually look at replays, you can see the goalkeeper has got a good sight line – and there's distance from the goalkeeper and the players that are offside," he said.
"Now, there are three Arsenal players standing in an offside position. That, in itself, is not an offence. So, what we have to look at is whether any of those three are interfering with an opponent?" And to do that, are they preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball? The answer is no. Are they obstructing the opponent's line of vision? No. Are they challenging for the ball? No. I'm not going to rule that out."
"I argued very strongly about the Liverpool goal being ruled out," he said by referencing Virgil van Dijk's allowed header against Manchester City. The Reds skipper levelled proceedings in the 39th minute with his headed effort beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma – but Andy Robertson, who ducked out of the way, was adjudged to be in an offside position and impeding the goalkeeper's view of the goal.
"Yesterday, in the Manchester City vs Newcastle game, we had a player in an offside position – similar, just the one, and the goal was allowed to stand," Hackett continued as he reflected on decisions over the weekend. "So, I'm for consistency and I also don't think offside should be used as a means of ruling out good goals."
Watch Hackett's full verdict on Eze's first goal below: