Italy goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario escaped without punishment after handling the ball outside his own area during Tottenham’s 3-1 victory over Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday. Here’s why the former Empoli goalkeeper avoided a booking.
Mid-way through the second half of Tottenham’s victory over Brentford, Vicario came to claim a cross right on the edge of his penalty area. He managed to fumble the catch, and his momentum was carrying his body outside of the penalty area.
Vicario instinctively made a couple of touches with his hands in an attempt to recover from his error. For the first, the contact with the ball was made inside the area, though his feet were outside the box at the time.
The second and third touches of the ball, though, were clearly taken outside the box when slowed down on the replay.
Why Vicario avoided punishment for handball against Brentford
Referee John Brooks did not spot the offence in real-time, and decided to wave play on without rewarding a free-kick. In fact, Brentford defender Kristoffer Ajer and Bess coach Thomas Frank were handed bookings for dissent instead.
Some supporters felt that Vicario should have been sent off due to the positioning of the incident, however, it did not deny a clear and obvious goalscoring opportunity, so the decision not to send him off was correct.
The referee would have been within his rights to hit Vicario with a yellow card, but as he did not stop play at the time, and as the incident did not deny a clear and obvious goalscoring opportunity, VAR did not feel the need to intervene.
For that reason, Vicario was allowed to continue as normal, without a booking on his record.