Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has explained why Arsenal’s bizarre opening goal against Manchester United wasn’t disallowed.

Emile Smith Rowe gave the Gunners the lead after 13 minutes at Old Trafford on Thursday night but his goal came in controversial circumstances.

David De Gea did get hurt during the corner-kick, but the injury was caused by his OWN team-mate Fred! Therefore, there is no foul.

The United keeper went down and Smith Rowe hit the back of the net with a shot from the edge of the box!

Referee Martin Atkinson appeared to be considering disallowing the goal but former Premier League official Clattenburg says he had no choice but to award the goal.

Speaking on Prime Video, Clattenburg said: “He has to give the goal here.

“Fred accidentally stamps on De Gea so it’s not a foul. He doesn’t blow his whistle [before the ball crosses the line] so he has to give the goal.”

Former England goalkeeper Rob Green, meanwhile, said on BBC Radio 5 Live: “It is an incredible decision.

“Yes, you have head injuries that are allowed to stop the game. But this is a genuine injury.

“It is impossible for Manchester United to do anything to stop the goal. De Gea would have saved it. An unbelievable decision. Amazing.”

At half-time, Amazon Prime’s pundits for the game all agreed that the right decision had been made.

Alan Shearer said: “It’s a goal because I didn’t see or hear the referee blow. Didn’t see a serious foul on the keeper.

“Only when you see it close you see his own player Fred actually stands on him.

“I don’t think I’m being too harsh here, the game hasn’t changed that much, that happens every game where someone is standing on your foot or on your ankle.

“With him going down like that – not a care to where the ball is. Yes, they hurt but I don’t think he should be staying down like that.

“He was back on his feet a minute later so couldn’t have hurt that much.”

Thierry Henry added: “When the ball went in Alan said it should be a goal and I seconded it because you didn’t hear the whistle before so you’re in trouble.

“If you blew the whistle before then you can have a discussion. The only rule that I know is you play until the whistle.”

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