Dean Henderson starred for Crystal Palace in their FA Cup final victory over Manchester City – but should the goalkeeper have been sent off?
On 24 minutes, Henderson handled the ball outside his box, palming it away from Erling Haaland as the Man City forward tried to race onto a pass.
Referee Stuart Attwell and his assistant referees appeared to think the incident occurred inside the penalty area as they allowed play to continue.
When the ball later went out of play, the game was paused for a VAR check for a possible red card for Henderson for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
This indicated the VAR officials believed Henderson had committed a handball offence. However, they judged that, as the ball was going away from goal, Haaland did not have a clear goalscoring chance.
Play continued, with Henderson not punished for the incident, and the goalkeeper went on to make a string of saves, including one to keep out Omar Marmoush’s penalty in the first half.
City boss Pep Guardiola did not want to discuss the incident afterwards, saying only: “I’m not the referee.”
Glasner admitted he was concerned about what the VAR would decide. “I thought, “Why don’t you kick the ball?” he said. “And then I had my fingers crossed that the VAR didn’t even intervene.”
Asked if it was a good decision, Glasner said: “For us, yes.”
Dean Henderson saves Omar Marmoush’s penalty
Henderson wasn’t aware the VAR check involved him. He said: “I didn’t know [the VAR check] was for me in all honesty. The ball had come into the box so I wasn’t sure what they were doing it for. Who cares, it doesn’t matter.”
Sky Sports’ Roy Keane added: “What you need to win a cup is a bit of luck and that was a huge one.”
Speaking on ITV, former Palace striker Ian Wright said: “How this is not denying a goalscoring opportunity, it’s absolutely pathetic. It’s crazy, he’s going to tap that past him and then he’s just going to tap that into the goal.
“Why are they making up these rules and saying it so eloquently? To confuse us? That’s supposed to be a sending-off.”
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Former City defender Joleon Lescott went even further in his assessment, adding: “That’s one of the worst decisions I’ve seen in football. Because of the explanation, not because of the decision.
“To deem that is not a goalscoring opportunity, one of the most prolific goalscorers we’ve seen.”
Similar views were expressed by former England captain Wayne Rooney on BBC, who said: “It is a red card – how can they get this wrong? Just get rid of VAR.
“They have made a mistake and now they are trying to cover up. It is a red card and everyone can see it’s a red card.”
