Referees agree on Declan Rice handball incident as Arsenal reflect on what needs to change

Arsenal conceded a penalty which swung the momentum of their game at West Ham on Sunday but a potential handball in the build-up has been assessed by former referees who have agreed on the outcome.

Arsenal dropped points for the second time in a row in the space of just over a week after their 2-2 draw with West Ham United. The game was a perplexing occasion with the Gunners seeming in control before surrendering it by conceding a penalty against the run of play.

The referee David Coutts decided in the moment this was not deliberate and there was no suggestion by the VAR team for the official to check the monitor. This caused quite a stir amongst the Arsenal supporters online who took to social media to post still images and videos of the incident.

“Right, the thing with this, does it come off his hip up onto his arm?” asked Gallagher. “Not sure.

“Does it strike his arm? If it strikes his arm, the referee has to make that decision.

“He has to decide, is that deliberate? The referee is right behind him and says, 'No' so it goes on.

“It didn’t lead directly to a goal so therefore it can’t be ruled out for that, it led to a penalty. But they have to be convinced that was a deliberate handball.

“A bit like last week with Coufal, West Ham at Fulham, when the ball struck his arm. He crossed the ball, it got knocked out, got knocked back in, again it had to be a deliberate handball.

“Dave Coutts said, 'Not a deliberate handball' so that’s the overriding factor.

Agreeing, Warnock said: “I think it was the correct decision, I didn’t think it was handball. I thought, if anything, it actually struck him on his midriff or just on his side.

“If it does hit the arm, which I can’t see it. I’ve looked at it so many times then it probably comes off the side and then onto the arm, definitely not deliberate.”

"There were suggestions Declan Rice handled the ball in the build-up, but even if there was contact, it looked to be accidental and accidental handball is not an offence. VAR would not get involved in that situation because it was subjective."

Ultimately the game swung on two penalties. The one that the Gunners naively conceded, due to two poor decisions from Thomas Partey and Gabriel Magalhaes and then the one Bukayo Saka missed two minutes before the West Ham equaliser.

Yes, more needs to improve. However, in this specific case it is not an example of one.

Roy Keane is wrong, Arsenal are not bottling the Premier League title race