Five fouls in one move. That's the kind of chaos that has come to define the Premier League this season, and it all came to a head at West Ham on Sunday. The corner kick looked innocent enough—Jarrod Bowen standing over the ball, ready to deliver. But inside the box, it was mayhem. Grappling, pushing, pulling, wrestling. By the time Callum Wilson blasted the ball over the line, the VAR could have penalized any one of four fouls. And they did.
It feels like this Premier League season has been defined by set-piece drama. Not just the goals, but the constant battle for space in the box. It reached a boiling point in February, when about 15 Manchester United and Everton players crammed inside the six-yard box before the ball was even in play. Players were thrown to the floor. It was carnage. "You get the feeling now that referees really don't want to get involved in any of it," Everton manager David Moyes said at the time.
But don't be fooled into thinking this is just a Premier League problem. BBC Sport recently attended an event with Roberto Rosetti, the head of UEFA's referees. The first thing the Italian focused on was examples of goalkeepers being pressured at set-pieces. And no team has mastered this art quite like Arsenal.
The Gunners have been the kings of the dark arts on corners this season, crowding and surrounding goalkeepers, finding ways to create space and score. It's worked brilliantly—21 of their 68 league goals (31%) have come from set-pieces. So there was a certain irony on Sunday, when the very tactics that have defined their season were used against them.
West Ham thought they had found salvation. Bowen's corner caused chaos, and Wilson smashed the ball over the line. But the VAR, Darren England, intervened. The goal was ruled out for a foul on Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya. You can't blame the VAR for taking a long look—there was pushing and pulling all over the place. But in the end, it was Pablo who was penalized, and the Gunners escaped with a crucial 1-0 win that has major repercussions for both the title race and West Ham's survival hopes.
Set-piece drama. It's been the story of the season, and it's not going away anytime soon.