Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has explained why West Ham's opening goal against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon was allowed to stand, with Declan Rice appearing to have handled the ball in the build-up to the penalty.
Arsenal were in complete control of the game up until the half hour mark, with the Gunners 0-2 up through goals from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard. However, the match turned when Thomas Partey was dispossessed in midfield, allowing West Ham to enter the final third before Lucas Paqueta was taken down by Gabriel, resulting in a penalty being awarded.
VAR, as with all penalty decisions, checked the incident but deemed that no further action should be taken, leaving Said Benrahma to score the penalty.
Arsenal players were visibly unhappy however, with replays showing the ball had hit Rice on the arm as he dispossessed Partey. Leading to a debate as to whether the goal should have been allowed.
VAR incidents have led to changes in the interpretations of handballs and offsides, with more objective criteria having been created in order to create clarity. But incidents such as these only appear to create more debate and the decision was discussed on Sky Sports News this morning, with former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher expressing his view.
"The thing with this, does it come off his hip onto his arm?" Gallagher queried when asked. "Does it strike his arm? If it strikes his arm then the referee has to make that decision. He has to decide; is that deliberate?
"Referee says no, so it goes on." He continued. "It didn't lead directly to a goal, so therefore, it can't be ruled out for that. it led to a penalty. They have to be convinced that was a deliberate handball."
The rules state that any handball, deliberate or not, which leads to a goal should be ruled out. But with this incident only being in the build-up to a penalty decision then referee David Coote can be judged to have made a correct decision.
This is a view which was echoed by former Liverpool and England left-back Stephen Warnock, who was in the studio alongside Gallagher, who added: "I felt it was a correct decision, I didn't think it was handball. If anything it actually struck him on his midriff, or just on his side.
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"If it does hit the arm, which, I just can't see it and I've looked so many times, then it probably comes off the side and then onto the arm, but definitely not deliberate."
With debate raging in recent weeks, the clarity of VAR decisions continues to come under scrutiny, with the aim of reducing such controversies seemingly some way off despite the advancements in technology.
PGMOL have admitted a number of errors so far this season, and while the suggestion is that this was a correct decision, there appears to be no end in sight for the continued discussions on the subject of VAR.
