Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty against Hull City on Saturday, according to pundits and former officials.
Arsenal managed a 1-0 win over Hull City on Saturday, with Martin Odegaard netting in the second half to earn the three points. But the Gunners could have taken the lead much earlier, if Kai Havertz had been awarded a first-half penalty.
Havertz was clearly fouled in the penalty area, but referee Farai Hallam missed it in real time. VAR Michael Oliver asked him to take a look, and the ref agreed it was a foul, but he judged that since Havertz was in an offside position, the foul didn’t matter.
The referee announced that he wouldn’t be overturning the decision, and the game went on at 0-0. Unfortunately, it seems Hallam got the rules all wrong.
According to the rulebook: “[If] a player in an offside position is moving towards the ball with the intention of playing the ball and is fouled before playing or attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball, the foul is penalised as it has occurred before the offside offence.”
Dale Johnson explains for the BBC: “A player who is in an offside position only becomes active when they commit an offside offence. [In this case], the foul comes before any offside offence.
“Havertz did not commit an offside offence, and this should have been a spot-kick to Arsenal regardless of the offside.”
Former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann agreed on Match of the Day, saying: “The foul should have taken precedence and it should have been a penalty kick, rather than an offside. They’re not actually challenging for the ball, that’s why the foul should take precedence.”
Arsenal fans with long memories will be particularly frustrated, considering they’ve been on the wrong end of one of these decisions before.
Back in 2019, Harry Kane won a penalty for Tottenham Hotspur from an offside position after a foul by Shkodran Mustafi. On that occasion, the officials opted to give the spot-kick regardless of the offside, judging that the foul had occurred before the offside offence.
It’s a shame that when the officials finally had the chance to pay Arsenal back with the same decision, they messed it up. Luckily, the Gunners managed to win the game anyway.
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