- Arsenal fell behind at the San Siro after Inter Milan were awarded a penalty
- Mikel Merino was penalised for a handball in the box following a flick on
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Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has claimed handball rules are ‘ruining the game’ as the Gunners conceded a controversial penalty against Inter Milan in the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta‘s side appeared to be heading into half-time goalless at the San Siro against the reigning Italian champions.
Inter was handed the chance to take the lead in first half stoppage time when Mikel Merino was adjudged to have handled in the box.
Referee Istvan Kovacs pointed to the spot after a free kick was flicked on by Inter forward Mehdi Taremi and struck Merino’s hand from close range.
Speaking on TNT Sports, Keown suggested Arsenal had been hard done by and claimed the handball rule risks ruining the game.
‘Is the arm in an unnatural position? It certainly isn’t,’ Keown said.
;I don’t know who determines that but the referee has given it and VAR is never going to intervene.
‘I think it is ruining our game to be honest, Arsenal are really hard done by.’
Fellow pundit Rio Ferdinand, however, noted different interpretations of the handball rule are being followed in UEFA competitions compared to the Premier League.
‘It is unfortunate the rules are different in competitions,’ Ferdinand said. ‘It is the confusing thing for fans and pundits.’
Manchester City had been similarly awarded a penalty on Tuesday night against Sporting Lisbon, when defender Ousmane Diomande was judged to have blocked a shot with his arm.
Arsenal were awarded a penalty in their last Champions League match with Shakhtar Donetsk when a cross struck a defender’s outstretched arm.
The Premier League revealed it would adopt a different approach over handballs ahead of this season.
‘We saw some soft penalties last season for handball so if it’s a clear directional movement from the ball from the foot to the hand we’re not going to be penalising that,’ former referee Kevin Friend revealed ahead of the season.
‘We’re basically looking for examples where it clearly hits the arm unjustifiably, hands above the head, away from the body, to deliberately block the ball from going into the box or into the goal.’
Former Arsenal defender Matthew Upson claimed the Premier League is ‘miles ahead’ when applying the handball law.
‘It’s a crazy decision from the referee to award a penalty for that,’ Upson said on BBC Radio 5 Live
‘It does my head in the way they apply that law in Europe.
‘We are miles ahead of that in the Premier League, the referees have the understanding of proximity, the speed of the ball and all those things were tick, tick.
‘It is just a bit of common sense.’
