Howard Webb believes the ball hit the hand of Benjamin Sesco, who scored against Liverpool for Manchester United, but says VAR could not rule out a handball goal because there was not enough evidence.
Earlier this month, Sesco’s goal in United’s 3-2 win over Liverpool, giving the home side a 2-0 lead at the half, caused controversy despite strong claims it was a handball.
Footage showed the ball grazing Sesco’s fingers, and the rules of the game state that a goal is disallowed if the scorer uses part of his hand to score.
However, in the audio of the VAR investigation into the goal, both the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and the Assistant Video Assistant Referee (AVAR) said they found no conclusive evidence that a hand was used.
“The clip speaks for itself. I think it probably hit the hand,” Webb said on the latest episode of Match Officials Mic’d Up. “But of course VAR needs that decisiveness, VAR needs to be confident that it is.
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Former Premier League referees Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd debate whether Benjamin Sesco’s goal in Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Liverpool should not have been ruled a handball.
“It doesn’t matter what we think, it’s what they think. We’re asking them to see if they need to take any action.
“Certainly, Sesco is not deliberately dealing with this, he is not trying to make himself look big. It is quite natural. But of course the laws of the game say that a goal resulting from the hand of a player who scores immediately is disallowed, so VAR has no choice but to start looking for it.”
“Sometimes it looks like they’re getting too forensic and you can hear VAR looking at it from different angles. They want to look at it properly once it’s definitive that it came off the arm. But they haven’t reached that level of certainty.”
“They probably think it’s out of their hands as well, but you have to be absolutely decisive to get involved. They couldn’t find it. That’s why the on-field decision stood.”
Webb: “Everton should have been given a penalty at West Ham”
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Listen to VAR audio showing why Matheus Fernandes’ handball was not awarded as a penalty against Everton.
Webb also admitted officials made a mistake in not awarding Everton a penalty against West Ham last month.
The Hammers won 2-1 in an important game at the bottom of the table. As West Ham won 1-0, Fernandes appeared to be clapping the ball with his hand in a duel with Tierno Barry.
Reacting live to the incident, VAR Michael Salisbury said: “This is a complete accident. A complete accident. He went to grab the player. I will confirm this.”
“Fernandes’ hand did touch the ball, but it was a grappling motion with the attacker and was a complete accident.”
But Webb believes a penalty should have been awarded in that situation, saying “this is what you expected from the game”.
“We think there should have been a penalty against Fernandes from the beginning,” Webb said. “But I don’t think he was intentionally going to handle the ball.
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Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd discuss whether Everton should have been penalized after Matheus Fernandes handled the ball against West Ham and whether Jordan Pickford should have been sent off for a foul on Tati Castellanos.
“Most of the penalties that are given when there is no intention to handle the ball are when a player stands up unnaturally or takes a risk by putting his arm out in front of him to block a shot or a cross. And they know that if the ball touches their arm or hand in that position, they will pay the price.”
“He doesn’t make himself unnaturally big. He moves his arms forward. I think he’s trying to prevent the attacker from turning him around. He can’t even see the ball. But Fernandes more or less knows where the ball is.”
“This was a deliberate action of his arm, perhaps not to handle the ball, but to do something, so I think we gave Fernandes too much benefit of the doubt.
“In this situation, the game expects a penalty. We have to live up to the game’s expectations. A penalty would have been the right result in this situation.”
Barrot revokes assistant who didn’t send off Pope at Arsenal
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Listen to the VAR audio after Nick Pope was suspected of denying a clear scoring chance against Arsenal.
The match official’s Mic’d Up episode also saw referee Sam Ballot overrule one of the assistant referees, Nick Pope’s sending off, during Arsenal’s win over Newcastle last month.
Pope fouled Arsenal striker Victor Gokeres, who ran in front of goal. Initially, one of the assistant referees recommended a red card to the Newcastle goalkeeper.
One assistant referee, Barot, said: “That’s a foul, that’s a foul. That’s a red card too. The keeper is outside the area.”
But the referee said: “No. Listen, he (Jokeres) has no control of the ball at all. When they come together, the ball is at Malick Thiau’s feet. He’s wide.”
VAR’s Jared Gillett agreed with Ballot’s decision, saying: “The defender was close to the ball when the foul was committed. I think the yellow card was the right decision. I think the defender will get the message.”
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Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd discuss why Nick Pope’s yellow card for his challenge on Victor Gokeres was the right decision during Arsenal’s match against Newcastle.
“There are too many doubts in that position on the pitch. Newcastle’s defenders are very close and there is a real chance of him running across and covering.”
Webb analyzed the incident and said, “This is a clear foul on Gokeres. He beat him. There’s only one thing that saves Nick Pope in this situation.”
“The important thing is that Thiau is probably the favorite to get on that ball. If Thiau had been further away, we probably would have seen a different colored card here. This is a clever use of refereeing in real time.”
