The first all-Manchester FA Cup final certainly lived up to the hype, and it was mercilessly free from too much controversy albeit the penalty given to Man United for Jack Grealish’s handball will be a decision that is debated for a while yet.
Ever since the handball law was changed, it appears that it’s left to the interpretation of the man in the middle or his VAR.
Whereas once if the ball hit any part of a player’s arm it was handball without question, now there are the twin issues of intent and also if the arm is in an unnatural position.
The latter appears to be the way the law was applied in the final, though one has to sympathise with Grealish who was on his way down from being airborne and wasn’t even looking at the ball when it lightly brushed his fingers.
After a VAR consultation and having viewed the images, Paul Tierney decided to award a spot-kick to Man United which was subsequently converted by Bruno Fernandes.
That’s a decision that hasn’t gone down well with former FIFA referee and former head of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), Keith Hackett.
Ken I agree 100% Grealish did not attempt to make his body shape bigger. There was no deliberate action by Grealish to stop or deflect the ball. I have already stated this to my colleagues at the Daily Telegraph https://t.co/5UveC1MgK5
— KEITH HACKETT (@HACKETTREF) June 3, 2023
Hackett took to Twitter to agree with a comment that suggested Grealish should not have been penalised in the circumstances.
A vocal critic of PGMOL when under the auspices of Mike Riley, Hackett will surely listen with interest to Howard Webb’s version of events when the new head of PGMOL is undoubtedly asked about the incident.