Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur once again found themselves in the spotlight in regards to VAR.
Jamie Carragher hit back at Gary Lineker on Twitter and defended VAR’s decision to rule out Gabriel Jesus’ stoppage-time goal during Manchester City’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening.
In another controversial moment, it was a sense of deja vu for Pep Guardiola’s side, who had a goal chalked off by VAR last season against Tottenham during the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Nonetheless, the hotly-contested Premier League encounter at the Etihad provided yet another big talking point.
Prior to Jesus scoring, Aymeric Laporte was punished for the ball hitting his arm just before the ball fell at his teammate’s feet – new rules suggest that if the ball hits your arm, deliberate or accidental, and it results in a goal then it must be disallowed.
Sky Sports pundit Carragher defended VAR’s decision to rule the goal out as he hit back at Lineker’s comments on Twitter, with the former striker stating that VAR was making the handball rule even ‘sillier’.
This isn’t the first time this season that VAR and the new handball rule has caused controversy because Wolves defender Willy Boly saw a not too dissimilar goal chalked off last week against Leicester.
Going by the guidelines, VAR is making the correct decision because it is merely going by the newly-implemented strict handball laws which has seemingly not gone down well with some supporters.
Of course, rules can be adjusted and improvements can be made down the line. It wouldn’t be a surprise if, in 12 months time, the handball rule is one that is perhaps tweaked, one way or another.
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