In a recent Premier League match, Manchester United secured a win over Nottingham Forest with a controversial second goal. The Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) has since admitted that the goal should have been disallowed due to handball.
During Sunday's game, the ball came off the arm of United forward Bryan Mbeumo before being blocked by a defender. Matheus Cunha, Mbeumo's teammate, then moved on to the loose ball and fired it past Forest keeper Matz Sels to score.
Referee Michael Salisbury was advised by video assistant referee (VAR), Matt Donohue, to review and potentially disallow the goal at the pitchside monitor. However, Salisbury deemed that Mbeumo’s handball was accidental and upheld his initial decision of awarding the goal. This decision put Manchester United 2-1 up in what ended as a 3-2 victory for them.
PGMO admits error
The referees' body contacted Nottingham Forest on Monday admitting there had been an error in judgement by referee Michael Salisbury who rejected VAR’s advice to rule out the second goal. This marked only the 17th time in seven seasons - and fourth this season - where a referee has disregarded VAR advice at screen review.
Howard Webb, Referees' boss spoke with Nottingham Forest explaining that while there could be justifiable reasons for judging this as not being handball based on natural movements of players; it would have been better if it had been disallowed considering Premier League's lenient approach towards handballs. Webb’s view was echoed by former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann who agreed that accepting VAR review would have led to an expected outcome – disallowing of Man Utd’s second goal due to handball violation.
Former Premier League assistant referee, Darren Cann, said:
"While I think that it is commendable to see a referee stick with his original decision, I believe that football's expectation is Mbeumo controlling the ball, especially when it leads to a goal, outweighs the possible deflection off Mbeumo's hip," Cann told BBC Sport.
"Mbeumo does control the ball [with his hand] and while he's not the scorer himself, football's expectation is for that to be disallowed."
The incident has sparked discussions about the effectiveness of VAR and the interpretation of handball rules in Premier League matches. While the Premier League tends to be more lenient with handball calls, understanding the natural movements of players, this case serves as a reminder that VAR reviews should be taken into serious consideration to ensure fair play. The admission by PGMO underlines their commitment towards transparency and fairness in football, despite occasional errors in judgement.
