Why Real Betis goal vs Manchester United wasn’t disallowed for handball by VAR

Real Betis’ first-half equaliser against Manchester United in Thursday’s Europa League clash was allowed to stand after assister Juanmi’s handball in the build-up was deemed accidental.

Former Newcastle and Leicester striker Ayoze Perez fired in a 32nd-minute leveller to cancel out Marcus Rashford’s opener. Before supplying Perez, the ball seemed to flick off the arm of Juanmi after the winger had tried to chest the ball down.

Raphael Varane lifted his arm in protest while still trying to defend but a VAR check determined that the goal would stand. Accidental handball constitutes when the ball ricochets off another body part before hitting the arm below the T-shirt line.

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The laws of the game state that if there was an accidental handball in the lead-up, and not by the goalscorer, then the strike stands. However, if the goalscorer had handled the ball before putting it into the net - accidentally or not - the goal would not stand.

Rashford was the subject of such a scenario against both Everton and Wolves earlier this season, having goals ruled out for this reason. Speaking at half-time in United’s clash with Betis, Paul Scholes blasted the ruling and suggested Juanmi knew what he was doing.

He told BT Sport: “It’s a ridiculous law though, don’t you think? If it’s handball, it’s handball. He’s got his arm there knowing he’s going to handball it, whether it comes off another part of his body it doesn't matter.”

The new ruling on handball came in during August 2021 after a number of changes in preceding years.

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