PGMOL chairman Howard Webb provides a detailed explanation of the procedure behind the disallowed handball goal by Kay Havertz against Aston Villa, shedding light on why VAR advised to uphold the initial decision made by the on-field officials

Havertz scored against Aston Vila but the goal was rightly ruled out for handball

Webb explained how there are different rules for defenders in that situation

On a packed train, how DO you ask a celebrity to move from a seat you have reserved? It’s All Kicking Off

Howard Webb has explaind why a penatly wasn’t given against Matty Cash during Kai Havertz’s disallowed goal against Aston Villa.

Havertz thought he had equalised for the Gunners at Villa Park last week but for Gillet to blow his whistle to cancel the goal due to a handball.

Despite the Arsenal players’ protests – and criticism from Mikel Arteta – the incident was checked and the goal ruled out, with Villa going onto win the game 1-0 and keep pace with the leaders in the Premier League.

Webb was speaking on the latest episode of Match Officials Mic’d Up, a show which aims to explain some of the controversial calls made by referees.

The PGMOL chief explained how despite the movement not being intentional by the Gunners forward, the strike still had to be ruled out.

Howard Webb has praised Jarred Gillett (centre) for ruling out Kai Havertz’s goal against Aston Villa last week

Gillett made the call in real-time at Villa Park and the goal was confirmed illegal after a short VAR check

Fans queried why a penalty wasn’t given after the ball was shown to have hit Matty Cash’s arm

Mail Sport has launched a campaign to stop the abuse of referees at all levels of the game

Your browser does not support iframes.

‘The law states that any contact with an attacker’s hand or arm, even accidental, which then leads to a goal being scored immediately has to be penalised,’ Webb said. ‘And this is actually a really good on-field decision by the referee, Jarred Gillett, in that respect. The law requires him to penalise when he sees that contact on Kai Havertz’s arm.

GET IN TOUCH

We want to hear from refs who have been abused – or parents who have witnessed atrocious behaviour on the touchline

‘It’s not intentional, but it still has to be penalised. I think the idea was that if it comes off the arm, it can’t be a fair goal – that was the reason why this law came in. But we see this kind of situation leading to a goal disallowed when it hits Havertz’s arm and yet a few seconds earlier, it hits Matty Cash’s arm as well – equally accidentally – but he doesn’t get penalised.’

Arsenal fans commenting on a social media post of the incident pointed out how the ball had hit Cash’s hand first.

That left some viewers querying how a penalty wasn’t awarded instead, but Webb explained how the rules are different for a defender and attacker in that situation.

‘He can’t be penalised, because he’s got to commit a different offence as a defender – he’s got to make himself unnaturally bigger or deliberately handle the ball,’ Webb said. ‘He does none of those, so it’s correct not to penalise, but we’re working with a different threshold for the attacker. It hits Havertz’s hand, and we have to disallow the goal in this circumstance.

‘This law has been in place for, I think, about five years now. It was decided by the International FA Board [IFAB], through their consultation, that goals that are scored off the arm are not fair, and therefore this law came in. The laws are always under review, maybe it will change, but in this circumstance, the referee did absolutely the right thing.

‘And then once the on-field decision has been given as a disallowed goal, then the VAR checks the footage, just to make sure the referee has not mistakenly seen a contact on the arm. In that case, the goal should stand, if it’s only hit the body.

Arsenal players surrounded Gillett at the time and criticised the call, which was backed up by manager Mikel Arteta afterwards

Webb explained that the rules are different for a defender and attacking in the situation that arose

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify

Your browser does not support iframes.

‘But of course, the VAR has to check if there’s clear evidence that the ball did not hit the hand to intervene. If it’s not conclusive, they’ll just leave this on-field decision alone. But actually, when you see the VAR’s process, they do get to the point where they see an angle that shows the contact on Havertz’s arm.

‘Interestingly, if it had been Nketiah who had scored the goal, it would have stood, because it only relates to the goal scorer – in this case, Havertz, who made contact with the arm. It didn’t hit Nketiah’s arm – if he pokes it in, it’s a goal, because everything before that was all accidental.

‘He [Gillett]’s got a clean view of it, what, from 25 yards out. He does [make a good decision in real time]. And we’re always encouraging the officials, even with the existence of VAR, to be prepared to make positive, accurate, on-field calls. We’ve said for a long time, good officiating starts on the field of play.

‘VAR is not there to referee the game – it’s there as a safety net for clear errors. Jarred sees this situation clearly from that position and penalises, and is right to do so – credit to him for doing that.’