Why VAR could not disallow Jorgen Strand Larsen’s goal against Crystal Palace despite Matheus Cunha handball.
Crystal Palace and Wolves played out an entertaining – albeit frustrating – encounter on Saturday evening.
A goal from Marc Guehi secured a point for the Eagles, after Trevoh Chalobah saw his opener cancelled out by two strikes within five minutes from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Joao Gomes.
The result leaves Crystal Palace 17th in the Premier League – with Wolves still propping up the table.
Position Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff Points
Anthony Taylor certainly had his work cut out at Molineux, as the 46-year-old had to decide whether Daniel Munoz fouled Jose Sa before Jean-Philippe Mateta netted in the 96th minute.
Oliver Glasner also felt Craig Dawson should have seen red – another moment Taylor had to deal with.
However, there was one controversial incident during Wolves 2-2 Crystal Palace that neither VAR or Taylor could do anything about, due to a ridiculous rule.
Bizarre handball rule allowed Jorgen Strand Larsen goal to stand
As shown by Sky Sports during the 2-2 draw, Matheus Cunha quite clearly handled the ball before teeing up Larsen to make it 1-1.
In years gone by, this would have been checked by VAR and most likely caused the goal to be disallowed.
However – ahead of the 2021/22 campaign – the following rule was introduced to the Premier League, which meant Cunha was able to escape without punishment.
“If an attacking player’s accidental handball immediately precedes another player scoring, the goal will now be awarded, when last season it was likely to have been ruled out. However, a player will still be penalised if he commits an accidental handball immediately before scoring himself.“
Some Crystal Palace fans were also unhappy with Eddie Nketiah losing the ball before Larsen equalised, with the England international foolishly squandering possession after Guehi had pushed forward, leaving us vulnerable.
Crystal Palace were hard done by in 2-2 draw against Wolves
So, basically, had Larsen handled the ball before slotting beyond Dean Henderson, Taylor or VAR would have ruled the goal out, but seeing as it was Cunha – the assister – who committed a handball offence, it was allowed to stand.
Crazy, right?
Joergen Strand Larsen of Wolverhampton Wanderers scores his team’s first goal past Dean Henderson of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match…
Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images
Of course, the Premier League officially state that it needs to be an accidental handball for the goal to stand, but that has always been a dubious term – nine times out of ten, no player intentionally handles the ball, and it shouldn’t matter whether the Brazilian intended to commit handball or not, as it still gave Wolves an advantage.
Ultimately, the fact this exact goal would have been ruled out before the 2021/22 campaign speaks volumes – the more the rulebook changes, the less people will take officials seriously.
