According to a report by Evening Standard on Monday, November 9, 2026, match officials erred in their application of the rules of the game, according to former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher, who thinks Arsenal should have won a penalty in their 1-0 win over Hull.

While the game was still scoreless at halftime at Saturday's Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, the controversial incident took place.

Referee Farai Hallam halted play to examine the incident on the pitchside monitor after Arsenal striker Kai Havertz went down inside the penalty area as a result of Hull defender Nobel Mendy pulling his shirt.

The officials reviewed the video and agreed that Mendy fouled Havertz, deeming the contact enough to merit a penalty.

The referee ruled that Havertz was in an offside position when the incident happened, so Arsenal did not get the chance to take the penalty. Instead, Hull was given a free-kick as a consequence of the decision.

Now Gallagher is challenging the rules' application, saying that the foul occurred before an offside offense could be proven, and thus the penalty should have been given.

In an interview with Sky Sports, the retired referee detailed how, according to the rules of the game, a penalty must be given whenever a player is brought down inside the penalty area prior to committing an offside violation.

He admitted that Havertz was in the wrong place to challenge an opponent, move in front of the goalkeeper, or otherwise interfere with the game because he was offside.

But Gallagher insisted that Arsenal should have had a penalty kick under the rules because of when the shirt was pulled.

He went on to say that he felt bad for the match officials and that the decision was understandable from a commonsense standpoint, even though it went against the rules.

According to Gallagher, this incident highlighted a loophole in football's regulations and necessitated changes to avoid future controversy of this kind.

He argued that while the referees did a good job with the video assistant referee review, the rules should be clarified to deal with cases where a player is fouled while offside but not yet committed an offside offense.

Martin Odegaard scored a second-half goal for Arsenal, giving them the victory over Hull despite the controversy.

Thanks to the win, Mikel Arteta's team now has a five-point lead in the Premier League as we enter the international break.

Nevertheless, the penalty decision has once again drawn scrutiny due to Gallagher's evaluation; the former referee adamantly maintained that Arsenal's appeal for a spot-kick was justified under the current laws.