Arsenal fell to their second Premier League defeat of the season at Aston Villa on Saturday, but thought they had snatched a point late on when Kai Havertz bundled the ball into the goal.
However, referee Jarred Gillett ruled the goal out for a handball, and VAR did not overturn the decision. Arsenal fans were furious at the time, but the decision did technically apply the rules of the game correctly.
Havertz had accidentally handled the ball before poking it into the net, and given that he was the goalscorer, this was rightfully deemed an offence.
This has led to calls for the handball rule to be changed, given the sheer disadvantage it gives to attacking players.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb, who has been under major scrutiny by Arsenal, Mikel Arteta and the fanbase following some contentious decisions this season, has now explained what needed to happen for Arsenal’s late equaliser at Villa Park to have stood.
Howard Webb explains disallowed Havertz goal
Speaking on Match Officials Mic’d Up, the former referee explained that Arsenal’s goal would have stood if Eddie Nketiah, who was just behind Havertz, had prodded the ball home instead of the German, even if Havertz had handled the ball in exactly the same way.
“Interestingly, if it had been Nketiah who had scored the goal, it would have stood, because it only relates to the goal scorer – in this case, Havertz, who made contact with the arm. It didn’t hit Nketiah’s arm – if he pokes it in, it’s a goal, because everything before that was all accidental,” he stated.
Arsenal had dominated the game and missed several chances, and they came away frustrated that they were unable to find the back of the net, but had this happened, they could have grabbed at least a point.
Was this the fault of Kai Havertz?
Havertz had found himself in the box, having made his trademark run to the back post, and he did well physically to hold off Matty Cash before poking the ball beyond Emi Martinez.
To the attacker in the moment, it was not obvious that his goal would have been ruled out, nor was there an easy way for him to compose himself and lay the ball off to Nketiah without risk of it being cleared.
It was merely bad luck that the ball had collided with his hand, and the 24-year-old should not be blamed for the goal being ruled out.
Havertz has improved in recent weeks, and his goals against Brentford and RC Lens came as a result of similar back-post runs into the box. Although he initially struggled since his arrival from Chelsea this summer, he is beginning to find his confidence going forward, and had his goal at Villa stood, it would have been a huge moment for him.
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