It has been made clear why Alejandro Garnacho was not given a penalty for handballing during the play leading up to Bruno Fernandes’ penalty against Athletic Bilbao. In addition to starting a formidable Manchester United team in the Basque Country, Ruben Amorim was able to bring back players like Amad Diallo and Matthijs De Ligt on the bench following the team’s stunning comeback against Lyon in the quarterfinals.
Harry Maguire’s incredible skill allowed Casemiro to head home from close range, giving the visitors the lead. Dani Vivian was sent off for the challenge after Rasmus Hojlund was brought down in the penalty area minutes later while attempting to tap in a second. Fans, however, feel that the home team was unlucky that the award was not disallowed when Garnacho’s hand touched the ball before the tackle.
Garnacho’s Handball Explained
The Argentine handled the ball in the build up to the penalty
The Argentine slid and used his hand to control the ball before Garnacho found Noussair Mazraoui, whose cross resulted in the foul on Hojlund. Although supporters argued that this should have resulted in the VAR penalty being overturned, the IFAB Laws of the Game have explained why the spot-kick was permitted to remain in place in spite of the violation.
The applicable section of Law 12, which pertains to handball, states: “A handball offence is not committed when a player heads, kicks or plays the ball with another part of their body and it then hits their own hand/arm (unless the ball goes directly into the opponent’s goal or the player scores immediately afterwards).”
The winger’s move was deemed incidental and unrelated to any possible call for a handball because he booted the ball against his hand as he stood up.
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