Webb tells Nottingham Forest Mbeumo handball decision was wrong

Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer for the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), has acknowledged to Nottingham Forest that referee Michael Salisbury erred in allowing Matheus Cunha’s goal to stand during Manchester United’s 3-2 victory on Sunday at Old Trafford. Webb determined that Salisbury was too lenient in his application of the Premier League’s handball laws, which permit some leeway for natural movements, but deemed Salisbury’s assessment of the incident as an unintentional handball to be incorrect.

In the 55th minute, Bryan Mbeumo controlled the ball after it struck his right thigh and then his right arm, cradling it before shooting. Although his shot was blocked, the ball fell to Cunha, who scored. Webb told Forest that when video assistant referee Matt Donohue instructed Salisbury to review the incident on the pitchside monitor, the decision should have been overturned. Donohue’s view was that despite initial inadvertent contact, Mbeumo’s subsequent handling constituted an offence.

The admission came in a conversation between Webb and Nottingham Forest officials, according to sources familiar with the matter. Webb explained that Salisbury misjudged the sequence, and the referee should have followed the VAR’s lead. The Premier League allows referees to consider whether a handball is accidental, but in this instance, Webb concluded that Mbeumo gained an advantage.

Former referee Dermot Gallagher, speaking on Sky Sports News, said Mbeumo’s action was clearly a handball. “It should be disallowed,” Gallagher said. “It’s handball. Michael gets seduced by this directive that if it comes off your body and strikes your arm, it’s accidental – play on. But if you watch this, it’s totally different, and I think the VAR has tried to guide him on this. He’s done as much as he can.”

Gallagher detailed the sequence: “Mbeumo’s arms are out when it finishes, but then his arm comes in. I think he traps the ball between his arm and his thigh. At that point, you know, if you listen to the VAR, he’s very, very clear he says: ‘I think there’s a handball offence.’ He’s controlled it with his hand, he sends him to the screen, he does everything he can possibly do, and then it’s Michael’s choice.”

“This comes down to: do you think this is accidental? Is there enough evidence to say that the player gained a massive advantage by what he did? I actually think his arm comes in, and that’s what cushions the ball. I think it gets trapped. If you look, there’s a period where the ball is stationary in his body,” Gallagher added.