REUTERS/Chris Radburn
Former Premier League referee Graham Barber has provided his verdict on Elliot Anderson's potential handball offence during Manchester City's game against Sunderland on Sunday afternoon at the Etihad.
The Citizens ran out 5-3 winners in a chaotic game in Manchester, with a brace from Antoine Semenyo, and goals from Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki and Enzo Fernandez cancelling out Brian Brobbey's hat-trick. The result means Enzo Maresca's side keep their 100% record alive this season, while they moved three points clear of title rivals Arsenal, who lost convincingly away at Brighton on Saturday.
That said, the outcome in the north-west could so easily have been very different, had Sunderland been awarded a penalty at a point when the home side held a slender 3-2 lead.
Barber, who officiated in the Premier League between 1996 and 2004, has revealed what he thought of the contentious incident.
Graham Barber Says Elliot Anderson Handball Was Subjective
Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
With City one goal up in their clash with Sunderland, Anderson was involved in a controversial incident at the Etihad. The £116 million signing appeared to swat the ball away with his hand when contesting possession with Enzo Le Fee.
Fans of City's rivals were outraged by the decision not to award the Black Cats a spot-kick for this infringement. However, VAR determined that the action from Anderson was accidental, rather than deliberate, meaning the officials were in agreement that a penalty wasn't warranted.
Former official Barber exclusively told GIVEMESPORT that the decision was subjective, and that 'one week it could be given, another week it couldn't.'
"I think it's a different incident [to the Bassey one] because there were hands flying around all over the place," he said.
"And again, I think that's a situation where you could watch that incident, and in your opinion, it could be a penalty, and I would say, no, it wasn't. So I wouldn't have been surprised if it was given. I wouldn't have been surprised if VAR had intervened. But in general, I think on the field of play, probably the decision was right."
The handball regulations are often criticised for lacking clarity, and Barber told GMS that he would indeed like to see more transparency around this specific law.
"I think there are really clear occasions when it is deliberate, but I think sometimes the removal of that has made it very, very difficult to determine whether it's handball or not. And to be perfectly honest, I think all referees, all football fans, all players, even in those two games today, nobody knew if it was handball or not.
"I think the authorities are trying to get some kind of clarity on it. But I think the way it's written, interpreted at the moment, it's very difficult to do that."