Arsenal fans believe they now have proof that referees and VAR are conspiring against them after Aston Villa had a goal disallowed against Bournemouth on Saturday.

John McGinn appeared to have put Unai Emery’s team in front against the Cherries early on, only for VAR to intervene, ruling that the ball had gone out of play before Ollie Watkins retrieved it.

The incident rekindled memories of Arsenal’s controversial defeat at Newcastle last season, when Anthony Gordon’s goal was allowed to stand despite Joe Willock seemingly failing to keep the ball within the boundary before crossing for Joelinton.

Arsenal supporters, who have witnessed a series of contentious decisions go against them in the early stages of the season, were stunned by what they saw from Villa Park and felt that Bournemouth’s escape provided further evidence of a perceived conspiracy against them.

“The entire league is against Arsenal, and they’re not even trying to hide it anymore,” said one disgruntled Gooner, while another added, “Same league, different rules.”

“I’d like to hear Gary Neville’s view on this,” added another fan, recalling the extent to which the Sky Sports pundit defended Gordon’s goal as legitimate.

Meanwhile, Richard Keys weighed in on the controversy, asserting that the officials at Stockley Park were guilty of making assumptions.

He said: “Here we go. A disallowed goal at Villa because VAR ruled the ball was out of play. I’ve seen no proof of that.

“At this point, it looks like they were guessing. I’m waiting for actual proof – or they should stick with the on-field decision.

“All I’ve seen is debatable evidence. No ‘proof’ – just an eye-based judgement, which means the goal should stand. Newcastle v Arsenal?”

Ultimately, Villa were denied all three points as Evanilson’s injury-time header cancelled out Ross Barkley’s 76th-minute opener, much to Emery’s frustration.

“We played a fantastic game,” said the disappointed Villa manager after the match. “We deserved to win and dominated possession. In our progression, we are increasingly demanding that we win convincingly, and this is part of the process.

“If we replayed the match, the plan would remain the same. We created chances in the first half, controlled the game perfectly, applied a very good press, and posed threats in the box.

“We started even better in the second half and didn’t concede any opportunities. We scored, but after that, the game changed because they introduced fresh players, and at 1-0, they pushed forward into our box.

“We needed our defence to be 100 per cent focused, as they usually are, but they scored, and we’re frustrated because we deserved to win. However, there’s still work to do.

“When you’re 1-0 up in the final minute, we didn’t manage things as we should have, and that’s something we need to learn from.”