Should Newcastle have won a penalty against Arsenal for Gabriel handball?

Newcastle United wanted a late penalty against Arsenal when the ball struck Gabriel Magalhaes’ arm, but no penalty was the correct decision, “by the letter of the law”.

Jarred Gillett had a busy afternoon refereeing Newcastle’s home defeat to Arsenal on Sunday. He awarded the visitors a first-half penalty but overturned his decision, had to deal with some Gabriel and Nick Woltemade fisticuffs, and denied the Magpies a spot-kick late on.

There’s no doubt that Gabriel handled the ball in the box, but Gillett said no penalty as the ball hit the defender’s shin before striking his arm, which VAR also deemed to be the case.

The appeal came with the score level and Arsenal went on to win the game via a Gabriel header in the 96th minute.

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After the game, Sky Sports pundits Jamie Redknapp and Les Ferdinand discussed the decision, with the former claiming Gabriel was “really, really lucky”.

Ferdinand said: “When I saw it, I shouted handball straight away, because you see it hit his hand. It looks like he gets a touch on it and then it hits his hand. So it’s a tough one, but I think they got the decision right in the end.”

Redknapp then added: “You can just see it just squeezes out here. It’s like they both get into the ball at the same time, Gabriel and Elanga, and it just almost gets teed up and then pops up into the air and then hits his arm.

“Where he’s really, really lucky, Gabriel, is that his arm is in an unnatural position. There’s no way you can say that it isn’t. And if they had given that, I don’t think there would’ve been too many complaints.”

Challenged by host Kelly Cates, Redknapp continued: “But that is extremely high. Kelly, I don’t think that would be disproportionate, if that’s the right word.

“You can see it here, it gets so high and you don’t need to get it up that high. So he’s extremely lucky.

“But I think because where he gets away is like Les says, it just squeezes between the two of them.”

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The debate rumbled on to Monday morning, when it was discussed on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch.

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher agreed with Gillett’s decision, saying: “I think this is a really interesting decision… Now the rule is, if it strikes your body and flies up onto your arm, it’s not gonna be given because it’s not possible to get out of the way.”

Jay Bothroyd agreed with Gallagher but attempted to play devil’s advocate.

“I was the same with Dermot on that one,” he began.

“That was a tough one, because they’re both going into a challenge. By the letter of the law, the rule is, if it touches your body and then hits your arm, it’s not handball.

“But the only thing I would say about that is, yes, there was a challenge, but not enough of a challenge because the ball was still going to go in the box until it hit his arm. That’s the only thing I would say on that decision.

“But again, by the letter of the law, it’s the correct decision.”