West Ham’s goal against Arsenal was correctly disallowed. The rest is just noise | Jonathan Wilson

The Gunners’ title charge was strengthened by a goal called back, in a perfect encapsulation of what modern soccer has become

• Sign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletter

A corner. A melee. Bodies everywhere. Blocks and tugs, pulls and shoves. A VAR decision. Fury. Empty noise. A title perhaps decided; a significant impact on the relegation battle. Shouting. Confused pundits ranting. Social media figures rallying to the side they were always going to take. Welcome to modern soccer.

After what looked like an injury-time equaliser for West Ham was ruled out on Sunday, Arsenal now need only to beat Burnley and Crystal Palace to be sure of their first Premier League title in 22 years. In the relegation scrap, West Ham are a point behind Tottenham, who play at home to Leeds, now safe, on Monday evening. But the big issue is a VAR decision. Of course it is: this is 2025-26.