Thomas Partey gets away with one! Why officials failed to award Man City a penalty in huge Arsenal clash despite VAR review - explained

• Partey brought down De Bruyne
• Man City appeal for a penalty
• No spot-kick awarded

WHAT HAPPENED? Manchester City thought they had won a penalty in the opening minutes of their crunch Premier League clash against Arsenal on Wednesday at the Etihad. Partey stepped across De Bruyne just inside the penalty area as he was about to take a shot and both players went to ground.

WHY WASN'T IT GIVEN? The appeals were waved away on the pitch by referee Michael Oliver, who awarded a free-kick to Arsenal instead. VAR also deemed that the decision not to award the penalty was not an obvious error.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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THE BIGGER PICTURE: De Bruyne may not have won a penalty but he did go on to break the deadlock. The Belgian took the ball from Erling Haaland, before running through and firing a low shot past Aaron Ramsdale after just seven minutes.

WHAT'S NEXT: Manchester City head to Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday. Arsenal are back in Premier League action on Tuesday against Chelsea at the Emirates.