By the very rules of the game, it’s a 50/50 whether you consider it a handball or not. It hits his upper bicep almost dead on his arm band/sleeve which is in thehandball zone”. But the rule states indirectly from a goal, it depends on if he makes his body “unnaturally bigger out of character for the movement or unjustifiably for his movement for the situation,” that’s the issue. I mean he’s jumping up to chest the ball, your arms rise up to do that, but that’s the matter of contention. You watch any player receive a ball in the air, i.e. a cross field pass from the LB —> RW and the winger will jump exactly as he did to chest the ball, and their arms will be in the same place. It’s entirely natural imo. Secondly, they’ve reviewed the play after MacAllister commits the handball, plays it in, Liverpool lose possession and the ball is headed away twice, and then regained and played in again. It’s a separate phase of play. I was under the impression the ref would review the buildup, not the buildup to the buildup after defensive interference and lost possession.

My real issue is the fact the ref blows the whistle for the goal and actually points to the center circle, then says “oh wait hold up nvm lemme go review actually,” which is just ridiculous. I know he’s got a right to change his decision before play restarts, but does that include being sent to the monitor to review it as well? Honestly just another clusterfuck and it ruined the game for me, cheering on the goal just to have the ref recant his decision.

This is just a dumb red imo. The only leg you have to stand on is that he steps on the guys ankle but there’s literally nothing in this. He is simply taking a step to shield the ball and the other play sticks his foot out right where he’s stepping. Is Rashford supposed to drag his feet along the floor to get where he’s trying to go? This is normal shit that happens in the game. Stop punishing players for freak occurrences and focus on what cards are for, dangerous plays. Nothing about this was dangerous, just unfortunate timing by both players.

To be fair, he chose to represent Norway, he could have chosen England. So while a disadvantage, it’s a somewhat self imposed one. His real disadvantage is that the team he could have chosen, England, already has one of the world’s best strikers, Eddie Nketiah. Just kidding. But that’s why a lot of African nations get their players poached by European nations like France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, and Switzerland, thus hamstringing their competitiveness. They’d rather be on teams for the fast track to success, than hampered because they’re one of maybe 2-3 good players,at that given time, on a mediocre team, like Norway.

This dude has the plot armor. Scores a screamer, gets a ridiculously perfect and on point deflection right over the defender and megs MATS. Can’t make it up. Barca will feel hard done.