Arsenal were wrongly denied a penalty in their narrow 1-0 win against Hull City

Arsenal clinched a 1-0 victory over Hull City to strengthen their position at the Premier League summit despite being on the end of a VAR blunder.

Mikel Arteta's side earned a fifth league victory in a row on Saturday afternoon and their ninth in just 10 games thanks to Martin Odegaard's 72nd-minute strike.

The match at the Emirates Stadium looked to be heading towards a possible draw before the Gunners captain netted after Noni Madueke's strike was parried in his direction by Hull goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis.

However, the English champions could count themselves unlucky that they weren't already up before Odegaard's goal following the controversy that marred the first-half. The hosts were denied a penalty after VAR ruled that Kai Havertz was offside before he was brought down in the box by Tigers' defender Nobel Mendy.

Referee Farai Hallam's decision to call for a foul saw brief celebrations from the home end before the official revealed the awarding of a free-kick in Hull's favour. Arteta was left raging on the touchline moments after in what was a dominant yet frustrating first-half for his side.

VAR had assessed the potential infringement for several minutes before Hallam was instructed to go to the pitchside monitor. He was told by VAR that Mendy had held Havertz's shirt, but because the German striker was offside at the time, a foul could not be awarded.

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Following Hallam's decision, a Premier League statement read: "VAR recommended an on-field review for a potential penalty to Arsenal for a challenge by Mendy on Havertz - but determined that Havertz was in an offside position in the build-up."

A fuming Arteta spoke with the fourth official before the break, while frustration was noticeable among the Arsenal bench. However, it subsequently emerged that the Gunners were wronged after a breakdown of the rules were explained by BBC Sport's Dale Johnson.

He wrote: "That is a very controversial VAR intervention at the Emirates. A player who is in an offside position only becomes active when they commit an offside offence.

"Kai Havertz must be 'attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball' - otherwise the shirt pull by Nobel Mendy takes precedence. The foul comes before any offside offence."

Thankfully for the Arsenal faithful, the decision ultimately didn't impact the result as they moved six points clear of second-placed Manchester City.