Fans are expressing a unanimous sentiment about Christian Romero’s handball incident in the North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham.
With the score level at 1-1, Arsenal was granted a penalty after Romero was deemed to have handled the ball from close range while attempting to block Ben White’s shot. Initially, the on-field referee, Rob Jones, dismissed the appeals, but VAR intervened, and a penalty was subsequently awarded.
Bukayo Saka successfully converted the spot kick, but pundits and fans held differing opinions on whether the penalty should have been given in the first place.
Sky Sports’ Gary Neville said: “I’m pretty sure it hits his hand, but I have not got a clue, you guess at home, but I do not think there is anything unnatural about that… it is not for me!
Was it the correct decision to give a penalty? pic.twitter.com/O0CqiziJl7
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 24, 2023
“When VAR look at it 25 times, it means they are not sure. His arm is low, so not for me, but it will be given. We are all so unsure.”
Moreover one fan on X, the social media platform formally known as Twitter, said: “I thought Arsenal’s penalty was very soft… but I’m getting increasingly confused about refereeing decisions every week.”
Another wrote: “The officiating is a disgrace.”
Meanwhile a third said: “What’s he supposed to do with his hands??”
A fourth wrote: “Absolute joke.”
Arsenal’s lead did not last long, as moments after the re-start Jorginho hesitated on the ball and gave it away to James Maddison.
The Spurs playmaker drove forward and just as he approached the edge of the area fed Son Hueng-min, who stroked the ball into the far corner.