The Premier League have released a statement following the decision to not award a penalty to Manchester United following an appeal for handball.
Southampton defender Kyle Walker-Peters appeared to handle the ball in his own 18-yard box but Ruben Amorim‘s side saw their appeals waved away by referee John Brooks. Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte put forward their case to Brooks but video assistant referee Paul Tierney had soon concurred with the match official’s assessment, following a brief check of the 25th-minute incident.
Alejandro Garnacho‘s shot had been blocked high into the air before bouncing in the direction of Walker-Peters and United star Amad Diallo. Southampton’s defender attempted to protect the looping ball from his opponent but had some difficulty in doing so.
Amad attempted to force an error from Walker-Peters however, and initiated contact with the 27-year-old just before he handled the ball. This has been provided as a mitigating circumstance, contributing to the Saints star touching the ball in the manner he did and appears to have ensured that a spotkick was not awarded.
A stament from Premier League match centre read: “The referee’s call of no penalty for handball by Walker-Peters was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed it was accidental as a consequence of contact from Amad.”
This would seem to indicate that the judgement was made that Walker-Peters had not intentionally made his body ‘unnaturally bigger’ in coming into contact with the ball. This would have resulted in a penalty even if unintentional.
Laws state: “A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation.
“By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised.”
United saw their woes compounded at Old Trafford as they found themselves a goal behind before half-time. Summer signing Manuel Ugarte knocked into his own net after Tyler Dibling flicked the ball on from a corner to leave United trailing at the break.
Despite the misfortunes of United, it was difficult to argue that the Saints weren’t worthy of their lead. Andre Onana was among the home side’s better performers and former Everton midfielder believes Southampton had controlled more of the game.
“Southampton deserve to be ahead. It could have been more,” he said. “The majority of the play and everything has been forced by Southampton.”
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