Pengamat Sepak Bola Kritik Keputusan Wasit Laga Manchester United

Keputusan wasit Michael Salisbury yang tetap mengesahkan gol kedua Manchester United ke gawang Nottingham Forest memicu perdebatan sengit di kalangan pengamat sepak bola karena adanya dugaan pelanggaran handball sebelumnya oleh Bryan Mbeumo.

Sorotan tajam datang dari mantan asisten wasit Liga Premier, Darren Cann, yang menilai bahwa sentuhan bola pada tangan Mbeumo seharusnya membuat gol dari Matheus Cunha tersebut dianulir.

"You can clearly see the ball comes off Mbeumo's arm prior to going to [Matheus] Cunha. For me, it is a penalisable handball." kata Darren Cann kepada Final Score.

Cann menambahkan bahwa penonton sepak bola pada umumnya mengharapkan keputusan penolakan gol dalam situasi seperti itu, terlepas dari adanya pantulan bola.

"Mbeumo does control the ball and, while he is not the scorer himself, football's expectation is for a goal like that to be disallowed as opposed to being given." ujar Darren Cann.

Menurutnya, aturan yang berlaku biasanya akan langsung membatalkan gol jika sang pencetak skor melakukan pelanggaran serupa sebelum memasukkan bola ke gawang.

"The law states that usually if it is the scorer who has accidentally or deliberately handled the ball before putting the ball in the back of the net, it will be disallowed." tutur Darren Cann.

Dirinya juga menegaskan bahwa ekspektasi dalam sepak bola menuntut agar pelanggaran handball lebih diutamakan daripada kemungkinan defleksi dari pinggul pemain.

"Football's expectation is that the handball outweighs any possible deflection off Mbeumo's hip." ucap Darren Cann.

Lebih lanjut, Cann memuji tindakan petugas VAR yang sempat meminta peninjauan ulang, walaupun ia menyayangkan keputusan akhir Salisbury yang jarang terjadi dalam sejarah kompetisi.

"It is a good intervention from the VAR. I would've recommended a review myself, had I been the VAR. I do think that while it is commendable the referee sticks with their decision, which we don't see very often, this is only the fourth time it has happened. But I feel the correct decision is to disallow the goal for a handball." jelas Darren Cann.

Ia memprediksi keputusan ini akan terus membelah opini publik, seiring maraknya diskusi mendesak untuk mengembalikan aturan ke konsep dasar pelanggaran sengaja.

"It is a decision that will split people. I can see both sides of the argument but we've had so many talks recently about needing to go back to deliberate handball. If it's unequivocally a handball, then we disallow. If the handball is accidental or if the arm is in an unnatural position, and we have all these clauses in the law, then it gets a bit complicated - so I would advocate for a return to just deliberate handball." pungkas Darren Cann.

Kritik serupa juga dilontarkan oleh mantan bek Manchester City, Micah Richards, saat berbicara di saluran Sky Sports.

"It is a handball. It is as simple as that. The referee has gone to the screen and made a decision but, if you look at it, it is clear as day." tegas Micah Richards.

Mantan gelandang Manchester United, Roy Keane, turut menyampaikan kebingungan serupa terkait keputusan peninjauan monitor lapangan yang tidak mengubah hasil tersebut.

"We are confused here, especially because the referee was asked to go to the screen and then still gave it." ungkap Roy Keane.

Keane meyakini seluruh mantan pesepak bola profesional akan sepakat menyatakan insiden tersebut sebagai pelanggaran.

"All of us ex-footballers will all be saying the same thing - handball. I don't think anyone would've complained about it. We were all scratching our heads when it was allowed." tandas Roy Keane.