Alexis Sanchez struck twice as Arsenal returned to winning ways with a 2-0 win over 10-man Hull, but it is the controversial opening goal that continues to spark debate.
Kieran Gibbs saw his shot cleared off the line, but Sanchez scored from the rebound after 34 minutes despite the fact it appeared to go in off his hand. The ball ricocheted off goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic on the ground before bouncing off Sanchez's hand and into the net. It was actually a hard one to call.
It did hit Sanchez's hand and, with referee Mark Clattenburg reportedly apologising to the Hull players about the decision after half-time, it is easy to see why Tigers fans are annoyed at the goal being given. The referee's apology should clear up any doubt over whether the call was correct or not, but the laws of the game also causing interesting debate as BBC Sport also looked at.
FA laws state that for a deliberate handball there must be "movement of the hands towards the ball" and the "distance between opponent and the ball" should be considered. The ball did hit Sanchez on the hand, but I don't believe there was any deliberate movement of the hand towards the ball and at that close range I'm not sure the Chilean could have done too much to prevent it. By the letter of the law you could argue a case for the goal, but I must admit we also got a bit lucky with the decision as I can see both sides to this debate. If I was in Hull's shoes I would feel hard done by and it seems they also felt hard done by decisions later in the game, which I'll come to later.
Arsenal started brightly, but wasted the chances that came their way in the opening quarter of the match. Mesut Ozil took too long before getting his shot away, which was blocked by the defence, before Sanchez shot straight at Jakupovic. Hector Bellerin also tried his luck after a fine one-two with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but the Spanish right-back's effort went just wide.
At the other end, Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech had to be alert to tip Oumar Niasse's header over the crossbar.
Arsenal nearly doubled their advantage within a minute of the restart, but Oxlade-Chamberlain shot just wide. The Gunners were almost made to pay for that miss soon after as Hull hit them on the break. Lazar Markovic went on a great run before crossing for Niasse, but the on-loan Everton striker saw his header excellently parried by Cech.
There was then another controversial moment when Kieran Gibbs was booked for barging into the lively Markovic and bringing him down. Had there not been a foul Markovic could potentially have had a free run on goal as Gibbs was the last man, so the visitors felt the defender should have been given a red card instead. Luck was certainly on our side as it probably should have been a dismissal.
At the other end Arsenal tried to add to their lead, but Alex Iwobi sent his effort over the bar before Theo Walcott shot straight at Jakupovic. At the other end, Hull wasted three headed chances in the final 15 minutes of normal time. Markovic's header was to close to the goalkeeper, with Cech making a routing save before Niasse's effort went into the side netting. Adama Diomande also headed over late on as chances continued to go begging for the visitors.
The Gunners finally put the result beyond doubt as Sanchez netted a penalty in stoppage time. Sanchez ran onto a pass from Ozil before his touch took the ball beyond the goalkeeper and out wide. The Chilean then crossed the ball for Lucas Perez, who had been on the field for less than 10 minutes, to head towards goal and only the arm of Sam Clucas stopped it from going in so a penalty was awarded. Sanchez stepped up and hit the resulting penalty hard and low beyond Jakupovic as Arsenal moved up to third.
Arsenal are only behind second-placed Tottenham, who lost to Liverpool, on goal difference and Chelsea's draw at Burnley means the Gunners are With Tottenham losing to Liverpool and Chelsea drawing at Burnley, Arsenal are 10 points off the league leaders.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Hull fan Richard Madden was left frustrated by the manner of the defeat at the Emirates.
"Given our recent results against Liverpool and Manchester United there was a sense of optimism going into the game at the Emirates and, although the result didn't go our way, it's the manner of the defeat that's more frustrating," said Madden.
"The opening 'goal' should never have stood and the fact that Sanchez actually celebrated it made it even more embarrassing.
"As I said in the corresponding fixture a couple of seasons ago, there's no shame in losing to teams like Arsenal, but it's incredibly annoying when poor refereeing decisions overshadow the actual game."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Whether it is from free-flowing football, grinding out an ugly win or needing a slice of luck they all count and we did what mattered most by taking three points against Hull.
In terms of the title race I don't think it will make too much difference as Chelsea are unlikely to drop the amount of points we would need them to lose. It does, however, stop the rut after back-to-back defeats and it was crucial for us to get back to winning ways with a trip to Bayern Munich looming.
Bayern Munich is familiar territory for us having faced the German giants in the Champions League in three of the last four seasons. In last season's group stages we beat them 2-0 at home, but got hammered 5-1 away. In our last encounter in the knockout stages, we lost 3-1 on aggregate.
We have a habit in recent seasons of the knockout stages of a sluggish start in the first leg before a decent comeback in the second leg when it is too little too late. Having home advantage in the second leg could prove crucial this time, but only if we are still in the tie at the halfway stage.
It is certainly doable to get at least a point in the first leg away from home, but only if we put in a performance of the highest quality. If we perform like we did in the recent games against Watford and Chelsea then we are in trouble and could get blown away before we even return for the home leg.
We must make sure we defend strongly and are clinical in attack. It is going to be a very tough game and personally I think either we can nick a 1-1 draw in Germany or we'll lose 2-1 and at least have an away goal.
If we are to make a serious go of the Champions League this year there is no room for error in the knockout stages and we must put in one of our best performances of the season. Now it's up to Arsene Wenger and the players to decide our fate!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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