Gary Lineker calls for TWO rule changes after Man Utd's win over Arsenal as he demands 'unfair' law is changed

Gary Lineker has called for two massive changes to the rules of the FA Cup immediately after Manchester United's shock win over Arsenal.

On Sunday, United started their defence of the FA Cup with a massive win over Premier League rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

The match was full of controversial moments, including Arsenal's disallowed opener and United defender Diogo Dalot being sent off and Harry Maguire giving away a penalty shortly after the hour mark.

And in the wake of the thrilling clash, BBC pundit Lineker has called on the English FA to implement two huge changes to the rule of the historic competition.

Just 19 minutes into the match, Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli found the back of the net when a deflection off of United defender Maguire played him through on the visitor's net.

However, the goal was ultimately deemed offside, with current laws stating that an opposition player must make a controlled and deliberate pass to an attacker in an offside position for them to be viewed as onside.

And it is exactly this that Lineker argued should be changed while presenting Match of the Day on Sunday.

"Now, we understand they have given that because Harry Maguire is not in control of the ball, but you could argue, of course, that he should have been," Lineker explained.

"Here are the four things about when a player is uncontrolled.

"The ball travelled from a short distance or the player doesn’t have a clear view of it. Neither of those apply. The ball was moving quickly. Well, it wasn’t. The direction of the ball was unexpected. It wasn’t. And, the player had limited or no time to coordinate their body movement.

"You could possibly make an argument on that, but we understand why it’s not given. Now, why don’t they [the FA] just say all deflections in those circumstances are offside?

"Rather than this ambiguous nature of uncontrolled and controlled and all that."

Gabriel Martinelli thought he had put Arsenal ahead against Manchester United, only for the goal to be ruled offside. (Image: Getty)

Earlier in the day Tottenham Hotspur had to dig deep to produce a 3-0 win over National League side Tamworth in extra-time.

FA Cup rules used to state that a draw at full-time would lead to a replay of the match, but in April 2024, extra-time and penalties were introduced so that a winner would be decided.

However, former Tottenham striker Lineker thinks that this new rule unfairly gives an advantage to 'bigger' clubs with deeper squads, and has therefore suggested it be further changed.

“Personally, I think if they’re going to take away replays, they should take away extra-time,” Lineker argued on The Rest Is Football podcast.

“Because otherwise, it really favours the strong teams - because they’ve got bigger squads, and they can put on their best players in extra-time like Spurs did [against Tamworth]. And they went on to win.

“So, I think that's unfair,” Lineker added.

“If they're gonna do away with replays - which I think to be honest, as much as it’s a shame - they need to find another way of supporting teams from lower divisions, lower leagues and non-league."