Jim Goodwin has been told that Camilo Duran's goal for Celtic against Dundee United was 'unfortunate' but that the refereeing team made the correct call. Duran netted after Kasper Hogh denied at close range, with the ball appearing to strike the Dane's hand before teeing up his teammate to score the second in a 4-0 win at Tannadice.
VAR backs referee's decision
The VAR team checked the call and backed referee Steven McLean, who had already allowed the goal, but Goodwin was not happy with the verdict at full-time. He insisted that "common sense" should have been used by Greg Aitken and the VAR officials in Clydesdale House to disallow the strike for Hogh's handball.
Former United captain Mark Reynolds conceded the rule may seem "crazy" but insisted the SFA have made it clear to clubs it's a "black and white" decision. He told BBC Sportsound: "I think that law pre-dates VAR. When I was captain at United, they had to go round the captain's, the managers and the referees and that was one of the rules that was discussed.
IFAB Law 12 explanation
"A 45 minute discussion on exactly that, and as crazy as it seems they seem to think it's very black and white. If it accidentally hits your hand and you take a touch and score from it, it's disallowed. If a teammate scores from it then it's fine.
"I think what we saw here is that reality. You can talk about in theory, but when you see it and you have VAR now - and it sets up his teammate, it's a hard one to take. The only thing you can say is there is a consistency there, and as unfortunate as it is, the bigger thing I would be annoyed about is the Celtic player makes it through three Dundee United players to score the goal. It's not an easy out to say it's a handball - which it is - you have to defend your box better."
Celtic legend Pat Bonner also pointed Goodwin to his players: "The midfielder has to take that responsibility. For me, that's poor defending." The SFA released a statement following the game declaring that by law, the goal was correctly allowed to stand, and have been backed up by rule-makers IFAB.
Goodwin's frustration
According to IFAB Law 12, an attacking player is penalised for a handball leading to a goal if they score directly with their hand/arm (even accidentally) or score immediately after an accidental touch. However, an accidental handball that merely precedes a teammate scoring is no longer considered an infringement.
Goodwin said on the flashpoint: "The second goal for me, the timing of it and the nature of it, is extremely frustrating when you consider that VAR has been brought in to help the officials. I know people will say it was an accidental handball and will also say that the rule is if the goalscorer handles it before in the build-up then it's disallowed, but I think common sense needs to prevail in a situation like that and it's such an important game.
"Had the ball not hit the Celtic forward player's hand then it wouldn't have dropped to the feet of his team-mate and probably went into the opposite side of the pitch towards my full-back. At 1-0 we're still very much in the game but at 2-0 of course we've got a mountain to climb."
