PSG awarded controversial handball penalty against Bayern in Champions League semifinal
Paris Saint-Germain take on the German giants in Paris in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal.
After a thrilling, end-to-end first half, the PSG vs. Bayern Munich Champions League semifinal first leg ended in controversy.
With the score tied at 2-2, PSG attacked down the right. Ousmane Dembélé’s cross struck Alphonso Davies’ arm inside the box.
After a lengthy VAR check, referee Sandro Schärer went to the monitor and awarded a penalty to PSG.
Replays showed Davies had initially tucked his arms behind his back, but as the cross approached he turned and his left arm moved away from his body. The ball struck his leg and deflected onto his arm.
A deflection does not automatically rule out a handball if the arm is in an unnatural position. The key question was whether Davies had moved his arm into an unjustifiable position from behind his back. The referee clearly believed he had.
Dembélé converts the penalty
Dembélé stepped up and fired the spot kick low to the goalkeeper’s right to make it PSG 3-2 at halftime.
AS referee view
“I think he ends up giving it because of the movement of the defender’s left hand,” explained our resident referee Eduardo Iturralde González.
“Just before the cross, he has both hands behind his back. At the moment of the cross, he brings it out right into the path of the ball and it hits him. His hand is low, slightly away from the body, but that movement from behind his back to out in front is what ends up penalizing him.”
Pundits angry at penalty decision
Over on broadcaster CBS several of the experts were enraged by the penalty decision.
“It’s a disgraceful decision. Absolutely shocking,” slammed former player Jamie Carragher. Co-pundit Micah Richards was also not convinced: “The decision spoilt it. I don’t think it’s a penalty.” If goals were your thing though it didn’t entirely ruin it, with at least another four goals in the second half.
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