Jean-Philippe Mateta was allowed to take back his penalty in Crystal Palace’s game against Manchester United despite accidentally hitting the ball twice on his first attempt.
Manchester United have become the first Premier League team to be affected by significant rule changes brought in ahead of the 2025-26 season. Jean-Philippe Mateta gave the Eagles the lead in controversial circumstances at Selhurst Park at lunchtime on Sunday.
Mateta was fouled by Lenny Yolo in the first half, which the referee pointed out. Mateta smashed his penalty into the bottom corner and the whole ground thought Palace were in the lead.
However, VAR discovered that Mateta had actually hit the ball into his standing leg before it went into the goal. Before the start of this season, that would have given United an indirect free-kick.
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However, the rules were changed before the current campaign, so players are allowed retakes as long as their initial effort goes into the net.
With Mateta scoring, he was allowed to retake the spot-kick and successfully kicked it into the opposite corner, ultimately giving Palace the lead.
In fact, United have a former Manchester City striker who was responsible for changing the rules. In the dramatic penalty shootout between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in March, Julian Alvarez slipped and touched the ball twice as he scored past former Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois.
Los Blancos advanced to the next stage of Europe’s elite competition with a 4-2 penalty shootout win amid chaos and controversy at the Metropolitano Stadium.
UEFA called for a rule change and the International Football Association Board (IFAB) changed Law 14 to allow a “double touch penalty” to be redone if the original kick was scored by accident.
Explaining Mateta’s decision, referee Rob Jones told the crowd: “After review, Crystal Palace 14 accidentally touched the ball twice at the moment it entered the net.The final decision was to re-take the penalty.”
This is the first time the rule has been introduced in the Premier League, but it has also been seen elsewhere.
England’s Beth Mead kicked the ball twice in the penalty shootout of the Euro 2025 final against Spain and had to retake the penalty. Her second kick was then saved, but the Lionesses won on penalties.
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