diff --git a/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx b/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
index 0dfcbf885..b0fedd6c4 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
+++ b/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
@@ -76,18 +76,27 @@ cdef GoldParseStateC create_gold_state(Pool mem, StateClass stcls, Example examp
     gs.n_kids_in_stack = <int32_t*>mem.alloc(gs.length, sizeof(gs.n_kids_in_stack[0]))
 
     cand_to_gold = example.alignment.cand_to_gold
+    gold_to_cand = example.alignment.cand_to_gold
     cdef TokenC ref_tok
     for cand_i in range(example.x.length):
         gold_i = cand_to_gold[cand_i]
-        if cand_i is not None: # Alignment found
+        if gold_i is not None: # Alignment found
             ref_tok = example.y.c[gold_i]
-            gs.heads[cand_i] = ref_tok.head
-            gs.labels[cand_i] = ref_tok.dep
-            gs.state_bits[cand_i] = set_state_flag(
-                gs.state_bits[cand_i],
-                HEAD_UNKNOWN,
-                0
-            )
+            gold_head = gold_to_cand[ref_tok.head + gold_i]
+            if gold_head is not None:
+                gs.heads[cand_i] = gold_head
+                gs.labels[cand_i] = ref_tok.dep
+                gs.state_bits[cand_i] = set_state_flag(
+                    gs.state_bits[cand_i],
+                    HEAD_UNKNOWN,
+                    0
+                )
+            else:
+                gs.state_bits[cand_i] = set_state_flag(
+                    gs.state_bits[cand_i],
+                    HEAD_UNKNOWN,
+                    1
+                )
         else:
             gs.state_bits[cand_i] = set_state_flag(
                 gs.state_bits[cand_i],
@@ -135,6 +144,8 @@ cdef GoldParseStateC create_gold_state(Pool mem, StateClass stcls, Example examp
 
 cdef class ArcEagerGold:
     cdef GoldParseStateC c
+    cdef Pool mem
+
     def __init__(self, ArcEager moves, StateClass stcls, Example example):
         self.mem = Pool()
         self.c = create_gold_state(self.mem, stcls, example)
@@ -610,9 +621,8 @@ cdef class ArcEager(TransitionSystem):
                 output[i] = is_valid[self.c[i].move]
 
     cdef int set_costs(self, int* is_valid, weight_t* costs,
-                       StateClass stcls, Example example) except -1:
-        cdef Pool mem = Pool()
-        gold_state = create_gold_state(mem, stcls, example)
+                       StateClass stcls, gold) except -1:
+        gold_state = (<ArcEagerGold>gold).c
         cdef int i, move
         cdef attr_t label
         cdef label_cost_func_t[N_MOVES] label_cost_funcs
@@ -643,16 +653,16 @@ cdef class ArcEager(TransitionSystem):
                 label = self.c[i].label
                 if move_costs[move] == 9000:
                     move_costs[move] = move_cost_funcs[move](stcls, &gold_state)
-                costs[i] = move_costs[move] + label_cost_funcs[move](stcls, &gold_state, label)
+                move_cost = move_costs[move]
+                label_cost = label_cost_funcs[move](stcls, &gold_state, label)
+                costs[i] = move_cost + label_cost
                 n_gold += costs[i] <= 0
+                print(move, label, costs[i])
             else:
                 is_valid[i] = False
                 costs[i] = 9000
         if n_gold < 1:
-            # Check projectivity --- leading cause
-            if is_nonproj_tree(example.get_field("HEAD")):
-                raise ValueError(Errors.E020)
-            else:
-                failure_state = stcls.print_state([t.text for t in example])
-                raise ValueError(Errors.E021.format(n_actions=self.n_moves,
-                                                    state=failure_state))
+            raise ValueError
+            #failure_state = stcls.print_state([t.text for t in example])
+            #raise ValueError(
+            #    Errors.E021.format(n_actions=self.n_moves, state=failure_state))