Udinese scorer Destiny Udogie admits he ‘wasn’t sure’ whether he handled the equaliser against Milan, as refereeing pundits ask why the goal wasn’t disallowed.
The wing-back bundled over the line from close range after Roberto Pereyra kicked it back over his head, Alessio Romagnoli failed to cut it out and Udogie was ready.
However, Udogie looked suspiciously sheepish during his celebration and confessed to DAZN afterwards there was a good reason.
“I honestly wasn’t sure if I got it with my arm. I looked over at the linesman and he gave it, so it went well.”
There was a VAR silent check for possible handball after the goal, but the officials opted not to call the referee over for an on-field review.
DAZN refereeing pundit and former official Luca Marelli said he was “frankly surprised” the VAR did not intervene, because from some angles it certainly looked as if the ball went in off Udogie’s arm.
When the handball is used to score a goal, intent is irrelevant, so the position of the arm makes no difference to whether the goal should be disallowed.