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You could be forgiven for thinking the decision to deny Crystal Palace a penalty was unjust with some of the coverage it received, but the explanation for its dismissal makes complete sense.
When Virgil van Dijk tugged on the arm of Marc Guehi in the penalty box, Palace immediately made claims for a spot kick, but referee Simon Hooper quickly waved it away.
Commentators on TNT Sports would not let it go long after the match, while a certain report in the Times made it seem like a bigger tragedy than a legitimate goal never being awarded.
At the time, the Premier League‘s Match Centre social media account explained that the “challenge was not sustained holding and had no impact on the play.”
Was it careless from Van Dijk? Possibly. However, the tug had no bearing on Guehi’s ability to have an influence on a ball that was destined to be in Alisson‘s possession.
In the latest episode of ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’, Howard Webb explained how the incident was viewed by VAR operator David Coote.
“In this case, we see an action by Van Dijk that is very quick, particularly at full speed, and the ball is always going towards the goalkeeper,” he said.
“We don’t think that the action really impacts Guehi’s ability to get to the ball.
“The referee saw it that way, didn’t penalise [Van Dijk] and when the VAR checked it, they saw it in the same way and cleared it for what it was, a very quick holding that didn’t impact Guehi’s ability to play the ball.”
He added: “If you look at the [incident] at 50 percent [speed], of course, it’s going to double the amount of time the holding happens and if you put it at 25 percent, it makes it four times as long and of course, it can look a lot more impactful as well.
“If the referee had given a penalty, seen Van Dijk pulling the arm of Guehi, we would have left it as a penalty. But on balance, we prefer no penalty and certainly no intervention by the VAR.”
It was bemusing to see the reaction in real-time, but it was certainly exaggerated in the days after as though it was a great injustice.
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