‘It definitely hits his arm’ – Moyes wants clarity on handball rule

West Ham manager David Moyes has asked for clarity from the Premier League after Lewis Dunk’s goal in the 2-2 draw with Brighton.

Brighton’s second goal stood after a VAR review, despite the ball appearing to hit Dunk’s arm in the build-up.

The official rule says a player will be penalised if they score a goal immediately after touching the ball with the arm, even accidentally.

“It definitely hits his arm,” Moyes told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Unless you tell me the rules have changed, I think anything hitting the arm and leading to a goal should be chopped off.”

After looking at numerous angles, the VAR official felt there was no clear and conclusive evidence that definitively showed ball touched Dunk’s hand.

The Premier League has been following stricter handball rules this season, meaning a player will be penalised for handball if:

The hand/arm is clearly away from the body and outside the “body line”.
The player clearly leans into the path of the ball.
The ball travels some distance.
The ball touches a hand/arm that is clearly raised above the shoulder.
The player falls and the hand/arm is extended laterally or vertically away from the body.
A deflection clearly makes no difference to the ball touching a hand/arm that is clearly extended away from the body and/or above the shoulder.
Immediately after touching the ball with the arm, even accidentally, the player scores a goal or creates a goal-scoring opportunity.
Earlier this season, Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson said the rules were “nonsense” and “ruining the game”, while Newcastle manager Steve Bruce says football has “lost the plot” with the new rules.

The Boss' reaction to today's performance:

— West Ham United (@WestHam) December 27, 2020

Substitute Tomas Soucek scored a late equaliser to salvage a point for the Hammers against Brighton, but Moyes also said it would have been “really harsh” on Dunk to disallow the defender’s first goal of the season.

He added: “On the touchline I thought it was a goal, but I have since looked back at it. It would be good if they could clarify why there wasn’t a free-kick given on it.

“If that’s the rules we are playing to we need to know why VAR chose not to. We would like it to come from the people who make the decisions. They must surely have the same camera angles.

“We’ve had a couple of really raw decisions lately. I don’t think the Premier League is doing a particularly good job of explaining it.

“If they made a mistake, I’d like someone to say they got that wrong, and then I’d accept it.”