Wayne Rooney explains why Arsenal’s third goal against PSV should have been ruled out in Champions League rout

Wayne Rooney believes Arsenal‘s makeshift striker Mikel Merino should have been denied a goal against PSV for straying offside. 

Merino stuck away Arsenal’s third goal at the Philips Stadion on Tuesday night as they ran riot in the Champions League, completing a sensational 7-1 win.  

It was Merino’s third goal as an emergency striker for Mikel Arteta‘s men – after two against Leicester – but it came packed with controversy. 

The Spaniard was offside as Jurrien Timber played a through-ball, which came off PSV defender Ryan Flamingo’s leg.

Flamingo appeared to move to block the ball but his head was turned and, when Merino scored moments later after a further mistake from the Dutchman, there was a lot of debate.  

‘I think it’s offside. Merino has made a good run, but then the defender has to block the ball and he’s offside,’ Rooney told Amazon Prime Video. 

The Arsenal star moved into an offside position as Jurrien Timber played a pass to him 

Rooney believes Ryan Flamingo’s block was enough to be deemed in control of the ball, but the officials disagreed 

Rooney’s opinion was shared by Theo Walcott and Mark Clattenburg on Tuesday night 

‘Then beyond that it’s schoolboy defending, woeful defending, really good finish. But the initial run is offside, the defender has to make an action to stop the ball going through, so the forward affects the defender, so from my point of view it should be offside. 

‘The defender is not even looking at the ball, he’s turned his head away from it, so he can’t know what he’s doing with the ball. I don’t see how they’ve come to the decision that he was in control of the ball.

Theo Walcott chimed in: ‘I can understand Wayne’s point of view. I’ve got to agree, the player is not in control of the ball, that’s where the law is wrong. 

‘The defending is comical. It’s a great finish, he’s in that position to put it away. It’s juts the long wait I can’t stand, the VAR, why it takes so long to get to a decision.’

Former referee Mark Clattenburg added: ‘It’s a very subjective call. When the ball is played merino is in an offside position, and does the defender deliberately play the ball or does he block the ball? 

‘I agree with Wayne that he blocks the ball and that therefore it’s not in a controlled manner and should have been given as offside. But he (the referee) believes he deliberately played the ball by that action of sliding, he believes it’s a deliberate play, and therefore that’s why they’ve given the goal, but I don’t agree with it.’

Arsenal had been expecting a tough test of their Champions League credentials but, after a promising start which almost saw them score, PSV crumbled. 

Timber, Ethan Nwaneri, and Merino all scored to send Arsenal in 3-1 up at half-time, after Noa Lang’s penalty gave the hosts a glimmer of light. 

But Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard both scored within three minutes of the restart to dampen the Dutch side’s hopes.

Odegaard later added another while Riccardo Calafiori also got in on the act.