Sports
Keith Hackett Drops Verdict Over Patrick Dorgu’s ‘Handball’ Goal vs Arsenal
Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has delivered a strong verdict on whether Patrick Dorgu’s goal should have been disallowed for handball during Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Arsenal on Sunday evening. The Red Devils are now two from two in the Premier League since Michael Carrick stepped into his second caretaker stint at the club.
Last week, they waltzed to a 3-0 triumph over derby rivals Manchester City to dent their title hopes and, this week, they did the same to the Gunners, who hadn’t lost at home since March 2025, and saw their lead trimmed to just four points again. Dorgu’s volleyed wonderstrike from outside the box was the pick of the bunch, sandwiched between further goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.
United’s goalscoring purple patch meant Arsenal were unable to hold onto the lead they had initially taken through an own goal and a set-piece. However, the second-half drama means many inside the Emirates Stadium are still up in arms about one or two contentious decisions, including Harry Maguire’s handball, with VAR adjudging his arm to be in a natural position as he broke his fall rather than deliberately stopping a goalscoring chance.
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Ex-PGMOL Chief Casts Verdict on Dorgu & Maguire Handballs
The other controversial decision, of course, was the one that allowed the ball to just brush off Dorgu’s wrist before he smashed the ball away from David Raya’s clutches, off the upright of the crossbar, and into the top left corner of Arsenal’s goal.
While those in the home end will have been convinced that potential handball was what helped the Danish defender-turned-winger to control the ball, Hackett – a former FIFA referee – wasn’t buying those claims. He explained to Football Insider (watch from 6:10 of the video below):
“As I’ve said on many occasions, I think the handball law is a crass law. It’s genuinely too open for subjectivity, which creates inconsistency among match officials. We’re looking for that deliberate movement, the body shape being larger. I’m happy that the player [Dorgu] had his hands down by his side when he scored. I’m never going to rule that goal out.”
On the Maguire incident, the 81-year-old said: “And then you have the scenario where the player [Maguire] falls on the ball and that, in law, is not a handball. It’s not deliberate, you can’t do anything about that, so for me, good calls, good game, and I think Craig Pawson stayed out of it [controversy].”
Michael Carrick an Instant Hit on His Return to His Beloved United
Carrick, one of the most underrated players in Premier League history, couldn’t have wished for a more difficult start to life as Man Utd’s caretaker manager, having been thrown into the deep end with fixtures against the top two in English football. But his shoot-on-sight, brave attacking mentality has made him something of an overnight sensation.
Indeed, it was that positive outlook on winning matches that his opposite number, Mikel Arteta, appeared to lack on Sunday – as did his predecessor, Ruben Amorim, throughout his 14 months in charge of the Red Devils. Long term, the worry will be that the reunion vibes eventually dissipate, but that will be the last thing on supporters’ minds right now as United climb into the Champions League qualification places ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool as their star players start to show their true worth.
