Manchester City beat Manchester United 2-1 at Wembley on Saturday to win the FA Cup, but the match didn’t pass by without its fair share of VAR drama....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
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Possible penalty: Handball by Grealish
What happened: Manchester United were on the attack in the 29th minute when Aaron Wan-Bissaka tried to head the ball into the centre of the box. The ball appeared to flick off Jack Grealish before Manchester City were then able to clear their lines. As play continued, there was a review for a possible penalty.
VAR decision: Penalty, scored by Bruno Fernandes.
VAR review: It’s a classic example of a modern handball offence, and a situation like this has usually been judged as a penalty for several seasons now.
There are exemptions that could have saved Grealish, such as proximity to the play of the ball and expected body position for his movement. However, the City midfielder’s left hand appeared to move up toward the ball before it flicked his fingers.
Was that a natural part of his body movement? Or a handball offence? Some referees will disagree this should be punished, but at the top level, with VAR, a penalty is always likely to be given — especially as the hand has moved above shoulder level.
Even though Grealish had no intent to handle the ball, or to make his body bigger, and clearly wasn’t fully aware of the ball’s location, it was that instinctive movement of the arm that left the VAR, David Coote, with little place to go in law.
