Gary Neville was left fuming by a six-minute delay to the north London derby due to a technical error surrounding the officials’ communication system.
The game on Sunday afternoon was stopped after just seven minutes, with referee Peter Bankes making it clear to the players what was going on. A lengthy delay followed.
Assistant referee Blake Antrobus appeared to have an issue with his radio, used to communicate with the other officials during the game. It took six minutes for the issue to be fixed, but Neville didn’t see the lighter side of things.
‘The game can’t be stopped for two minute because a linesman can’t communicate with a referee,’ he said on Sky Sports commentary. ‘We did 100 years without it so we can play here. The whole crowd is now waiting because of an IT issue.’
After a few more minutes, he continued: ‘This is absolute nonsense. one of the most important games of the season, fantastic start to it, quick, and we are now two or three minutes stopped and they will have to rewarm up again, reset, an absolute shambles.
‘If they haven’t got the common sense or authority or leadership to read the room here… 62,000 in the stadium, millions watching at home – do they really think it’s that important? Put your flag up. If you need to make a decision, go and speak to him.’
There was a six-minute delay in the north London derby as assistant referee Blake Antrobus had his communication system fixed
Referee Peter Bankes was forced to explain the situation to the players, with a six-minute delay coming as a result
Gary Neville urged the game to continue, branding the incident ‘absolute nonsense’ on Sky
Officials started using radios for communication in the 1999/2000 season following a successful pilot scheme. All four officials at the ground, as well as the VAR official and their assistant, can communicate.
When the game eventually got underway again, Arsenal soon took the lead thanks to Eberechi Eze, who came close to joining Tottenham in the summer. He also scored a hat-trick in the reverse fixture.
But it didn’t take long for Spurs to hit back. Following errors from Declan Rice and William Saliba, Randal Kolo Muani netted just two minutes later.
