Gary Lineker reacts to Craig Dawson goal as controversial West Ham footage emerges v Leicester
Craig Dawson scored a late goal for West Ham in their 2-2 draw at Leicester with his arm, according to Gary Lineker.
Jarrod Bowen’s stoppage-time corner was diverted into the Leicester goal by Dawson to snatch a late point for the Hammers.
As seen in the footage below on Sky Sports Premier League’s Twitter account, the incident was reviewed by VAR to check whether Dawson had scored with his arm.
After the check was completed, referee Michael Oliver pointed to the centre circle to allow the goal.
Ex-Leicester forward Lineker was baffled, taking to his Twitter account to simply say: “Arm surely?”
Definitely a goal
Dawson scored with his shoulder, which is completely acceptable within the laws of the game.
As shown by ESPN journalist Dale Johnson, it can only be handball if the ball strikes the arm below where the sleeve of a shirt usually ends.
Johnson shared a screenshot of Dawson’s goal and it’s very clear that where the ex-West Brom defender makes contact with the ball, it’s covered by the sleeve of his shirt.
It’s pretty much conclusive proof that the on-field decision was right at the time of the goal and also the VAR officials were spot on too.
Lineker and any other pundit who feels that should have been disallowed for handball need to brush up on their understanding of the handball laws.
People seem to be trying to make a controversy out of nothing.
We ask for clarity and black and white rules and while there are plenty of things to debate about in other areas of the game, this isn’t one of them. It’s nailed on, it’s black and white and the law was applied correctly by Oliver, his assistants and the VAR.
Well done to all those involved and well done to Dawson for using his sleeve to score what was a vital goal for David Moyes’ side.
In other West Ham news, here’s how we rated the players for their performances at the King Power stadium.