Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty for an Ian Maatsen challenge on Bruno Guimaraes in their 1-0 win at Aston Villa, the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents Panel has ruled.The panel added that the Villa full-back, who was already on a yellow card, should have been sent off for the “reckless” tackle.Mikel Arteta’s side were leading through Bukayo Saka’s second-half goal when Guimaraes was brought down by a sliding challenge from Maatsen in the 98th-minute.Referee Jarred Gillett waved away the Brazilian’s appeals and the video assistant referee (VAR), James Bell, decided against an intervention.However, the Premier League’s five-person KMI panel ruled unanimously that Gillett should have awarded a spot kick and that Bell should have intervened to correct a “clear and obvious error”, and advise a second yellow card for Maatsen.“The panel felt that a penalty should have been awarded on-field for Maatsen’s reckless challenge on Guimaraes. Clear contact was made on the attacker’s standing leg and Maatsen made no contact with the ball,” read the decision, published on the Premier League website on Wednesday.“They also felt that VAR should have intervened as the non-penalty awarded was a clear and obvious error. The panel felt that the challenge was reckless and therefore a second caution should have been awarded.”The KMI Panel provides an independent assessment of big decisions in every Premier League match and from this season the results are being published by the league, having previously been sent directly to clubs.The panel consists of five members: three former players or coaches, one representative from the Premier League, and one from Pro Ref, the body responsible for professional officiating in England. The panel votes first on the on-field decision, and then on the outcome of the VAR intervention.On the same matchweek, the panel ruled 5-0 that it was the correct decision to award Manchester United a penalty for a Jacob Greaves foul on Matheus Cunha in Michael Carrick’s side’s 5-2 win over Ipswich Town.The panel also unanimously ruled that Newcastle United’s opening goal in the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur was correctly given onside, with Amar Dedic found to have been played on by Andy Robertson.The panel did rule (3-2) that Brentford should have been awarded a penalty during their 1-1 draw against Leeds United for a Jayden Bogle challenge on Kevin Schade that went unpunished, but deemed that the decision did not meet the “clear and obvious” threshold for intervention, and VAR was correct to not step in.Similarly, the panel deemed Nottingham Forest were incorrectly awarded a penalty in their 2-2 draw with Liverpool for an Alisson challenge on Neco Williams. The panel voted 3-2 that Alisson was incorrectly penalised for the challenge on Williams, but were unanimous that it was not a clear and obvious error and the VAR was correct to not intervene.In total, the panel reviewed 27 incidents from gameweek two. The Maatsen challenge and subsequent failure to show a second yellow card were the only decisions where the panel unanimously deemed the VAR intervention outcome was incorrect.Sep 9, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms