Rangers’ Scottish Premiership Motherwell was a frenetic affair and once again VAR took centre-stage.
Between handball shouts, red card tackles and disallowed goals, the VAR team were kept busy throughout the 2-2 draw at Fir Park.
Now, the Sky Sports Ref Watch panel have been reviewing the decisions as Rangers drop yet more points in the Scottish Premiership.
One of the stand out calls in the match involved Motherwell’s opener, with the ball appearing to strike Apostolos Stamatelopoulos’ hand in the build up.
For one cheeky broadcaster, the moment was akin to Diego Maradona’s famous Hand of God against in England in 1986.
Motherwell handball call v Rangers
Rangers manager Philippe Clement was visibly incensed when Motherwell’s first goal was allowed to stand at Fir Park.
Motherwell striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos handled the ball when Robin Propper fired a poor defensive header off the striker.
But despite going on to score, VAR opted not to rule the goal out with Philippe Clement irate on the touchline.
Come full time, Clement told reporters that his assistant insisted the goal was offside and claimed he was yet to see the replays back.
Now, ex-Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has explained why the goal was allowed to stand.
Because the play broke to Motherwell forward Tawanda Maswanhise, who returned it to Stamatelopoulos, the goal could not be automatically ruled out despite the handball having a direct impact on the goal.
The challenge for VAR then was to decide if the handball was deliberate or not. They obviously believe it was not.
The situation wasn’t lost on Sky Sports broadcaster Rob Wotton, who referenced Diego Maradona’s famous Hand of God v England.
🗣️ Dermot Gallagher looks at some of the key incidents from Motherwell's draw with Rangers on Ref Watch, including a goal being disallowed for the hosts, Lennon Miller's tackle and more. Your thoughts? ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/xt7Qug4yah
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 30, 2024
Sky Sports Ref Watch on handball call
Rob Wotton: “Rangers and Philippe Clement felt Motherwell’s opening goal should’ve been disallowed for handball. Dermot, why on Earth wasn’t this disallowed for handball?”
Dermot Gallagher: “Really intriguing isn’t it? If you look at this, the actual goalscorer, the ball strikes his arm. The question there has to be is it deliberate? Because that’s all you can give it for because he didn’t score from that, it went to another player and the other player didn’t score. When he jumps does it strike him? I think his arms are tucked in. VAR has said not deliberate so therefore the game goes on and he scores.”
RW: “He almost caught it and showed it to all four corners of the ground, let’s be honest.”
DG: “You did that joke when I came in.”
RW: “Because it’s true.”
Stephen Warnock: “That’s not handball. Where do you want him to put his hands?”
RW: “VAR in Scotland, if it goes within five foot of your hand it’s a handball isn’t it?”
Sue Smith: “That’s the frustrating thing in Scotland, it is given it, isn’t it? When it strikes the hand like that. We’ve even said that’s really harsh but that does strike his arm so I was surprised.”
SW: “If he jumps (arms spread) and it hits him, fair enough. But he jumps and sorts of brings them into (his body). I’m not saying it doesn’t hit his arm, where do you want him to go? He’s tried to make himself as small as he can and almost wanting it to hit somewhere (on his mid-drift). It’s not handball for me.”
SS: “I agree, I think it’s harsh. But I just think in Scotland we’ve seen them given. Because how many times have we said that’s really harsh, where is he supposed to put his arms?”
DG: “If it doesn’t hit his arm, it hits his body, so he can’t avoid it can he?”
RW: “Yeah, that’s what Maradona said!”
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