The reason why Alejandro Garnacho wasn’t penalised for handball in the build-up to the penalty that was scored by Bruno Fernandes against Athletic Bilbao has been revealed. Off the back of the incredible comeback against Lyon in the quarter-finals, Ruben Amorim named a strong Manchester United side in the Basque Country, and was also able to welcome back the likes of Amad Diallo and Matthijs De Ligt on the bench.
The visitors took the lead after some brilliant skill by Harry Maguire allowed Casemiro to head home from close range. Minutes later, Rasmus Hojlund was pulled down in the penalty area as he looked to tap in a second, with Dani Vivian getting sent off for the challenge. However, fans believe that the home side were unfortunate that the award was not chalked off after Garnacho touched the ball with his hand in advance of the tackle.
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Garnacho’s Handball Explained
The Argentine handled the ball in the build up to the penalty
Prior to Garnacho finding Noussair Mazraoui, whose cross led to the foul on Hojlund, the Argentine slipped and controlled the ball with his hand. While fans claimed that this should’ve meant that the penalty awarded by VAR was overruled, the IFAB Laws of the Game have clarified why, despite the infringement, the spot-kick was allowed to stand.
The relevant section of Law 12, relating 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).”
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As the winger kicked the ball against his hand as he stood up, it meant that the action was considered accidental and not relevant to any potential call for a handball.
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