‘I get frustrated’ – Ferdinand v Walton on Arsenal handball

Rio Ferdinand took on Peter Walton in BT Sport’s latest round of picking through refereeing decisions with a fine-tooth comb.

Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-1 in a contentious game at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Bukayo Saka scored one penalty and Bruno Fernandes missed another, with Manchester United feeling aggrieved at having a number of possible penalty shouts declined by referee Craig Pawson.

There was a potential offside in the build-up to the Granit Xhaka goal that sealed Arsenal’s victory, while some complained about the award of the Gunners’ penalty.

But BT Sport pundit Ferdinand was raging with how Cedric Soares’ apparent handball when defending against Jadon Sancho went unpunished. And here is a transcript of the bulk of his disagreement with the estimable Peter Walton:

PW: “You can see, as they go down, his arms extend. His arm’s extended out there to save him from falling onto the ground.”

RF: “Hold on a minute. No, come on, man! Pete, man.”

PW: “Well let me finish the law here, Rio. The law is quite specific. It does say that if the arm is there to prevent him from falling onto the floor, and the ball strikes his arm, it cannot be a deliberate attempt. I, as a referee, don’t know the intention of the player. All I can do is go on his actions, and his actions there are defended by the law because the law says the ball strikes his arm as he’s falling over to prevent himself, so it cannot be a deliberate attempt.”

RF: “No, no, no. Can I say something? Can I say something? He’s not trying to prevent himself from falling, he’s trying to stay up to keep himself going, to stay alongside play so he can be an obstacle of getting towards goal, which means the ball goes with his hand.”

Martin Keown: