Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was a key man in his side’s shock FA Cup final win against Manchester City. He did it with amazing class, incredible composure and sublime skill on the ball. The contest on Saturday didn’t disappoint, delivering a sensational moment in the first half. Henderson’s controversial handball outside his own penalty area should have resulted in a straight red card dismissal.
Go to the 24th minute to see Henderson jump into the scene. With a dazzling touch, he pushed the ball wide, deflecting a shot toward Erling Haaland. Regulations clarify that if a player denies an obvious goalscoring opportunity, the player will typically receive a red card. Referee Stuart Attwell and his assistant referees apparently misattributed and assumed the handball was inside the penalty box.
VAR official Jarred Gillett checked the play and decided that Henderson’s action was indeed a handball. Throughout the process, Henderson was not told that the check from VAR was directly for him. Eventually, a yellow card was dropped entirely, leaving him to play on.
Henderson’s performance included a critical penalty save from Omar Marmoush later in the match, contributing to Crystal Palace’s 2-1 victory. Even with the victory, the pesky handball foul still stole all the conversation after the game.
Speaking after the Palace game, their head coach Oliver Glasner couldn’t hide his outrage over the VAR decision. He raised concerns over the VAR’s findings. He was happy that, in the end, this time the outcome worked out for his team.
“I thought, ‘Why don’t you kick the ball?’” – Oliver Glasner
Former players Joleon Lescott and Wayne Rooney expressed their anger at the decision not to give Henderson a red card. Lescott labeled it “one of the worst decisions I’ve seen in football,” emphasizing that it was a clear goalscoring opportunity for Haaland. He stated:
“To deem that is not a goalscoring opportunity, one of the most prolific goalscorers we’ve seen.” – Joleon Lescott
Rooney echoed these sentiments, asserting that it was undoubtedly a red card offence and expressing frustration over VAR’s role in the decision-making process.
“It is a red card – how can they get this wrong? Just get rid of VAR.” – Wayne Rooney
The already-tense situation escalated further when Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola confronted Henderson after the final whistle. He didn’t want to talk about what happened after that. The VAR controversy was not lost on the public, and critics such as Ian Wright were quick to attack it too. He criticized the decision-making process surrounding the incident:
“How this is not denying a goalscoring opportunity, it’s absolutely pathetic. It’s crazy, he’s going to tap that past him and then he’s just going to tap that into the goal.” – Ian Wright
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