I seem to be in the minority and a bit bias, but if that handball had been right on the line and prevented the ball crossing the line there would be no argument. Just because he didn't mean it does not stop it being handball. It certainly stopped the ball going forward so who is to say it would not have gone in, or even to a Palace player. Good decision ref IMO.

The arm is in an unnatural position and the ball hits it. It's handball.

From the FA website:

It is an offence if a player:
deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, including moving the hand/arm towards the ball
scores in the opponents’ goal directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper
after the ball has touched their or a team-mate’s hand/arm, even if accidental, immediately:
scores in the opponents’ goal
creates a goal-scoring opportunity
touches the ball with their hand/arm when:
the hand/arm has made their body unnaturally bigger
the hand/arm is above/beyond their shoulder level (unless the player deliberately plays the ball which then touches their hand/arm
The above offences apply even if the ball touches a player’s hand/arm directly from the head or body (including the foot) of another player who is close.

Except for the above offences, it is not an offence if the ball touches a player’s hand/arm:
directly from the player’s own head or body (including the foot)
directly from the head or body (including the foot) of another player who is close
if the hand/arm is close to the body and does not make the body unnaturally bigger
when a player falls and the hand/arm is between the body and the ground to support the body, but not extended laterally or vertically away from the body

His arm was sticking out from his body making it unnaturally bigger. It’s a penalty. Would be helpful if the pundits checked he rules directly.

Although I’m not a fan of the rule about keepers not coming forward, and it doesn’t seem fair to change the penalty taker.

Edited by jeeagles (21 Sep 2020 9.38pm)

Definitely a pen, whose to say that it wouldn’t have gone in. What is bs is the retake. I hate that rule.

Total nonsense, was never a penalty. The rules are a joke and ruining the game. Same for the decision on the penalty retake. As the commentator said at the time, the refs need to apply common sense. I’d have gone mental if that was a decision against us.

However, we totally bossed United and perhaps deserved a bit of luck.

With the introduction of the linesman no longer flagging, what is the role of the linesman? Might as well get rid.

VAR is too involved and making football worse. Introduce 1 review per captain per game, ref gets 10 seconds to review it on a replay. If it’s a clear and obvious error they don’t need to look it at for 3 minutes from 8 different angles.

After the decade long stretch when penalties given there were rarer than Benteke hat tricks I’m quite happy with the decision.

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