Manchester United became the first Premier League team to be affected by the controversial rule change when Jean-Philippe Mateta was allowed to retake a penalty for an accidental double touch in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Jean-Philippe Mateta was reportedly given harsh treatment during Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon after he was allowed to retake a penalty despite it being his own mistake. Ruben Amorim’s side scored two goals after the half-time break to grab the all-important three points, but not before the drama surrounding Mateta’s spot-kick.
A clumsy challenge from Palace striker Lenny Yolo gave him the chance to break the deadlock from the penalty spot. Mateta calmly took the shot and Senne Lamence dived in the wrong direction, but replays showed the ball had hit his left foot by mistake.
VAR instructed Rob Jones to announce to the stadium that Mateta would be allowed to take the penalty again. “After consideration, Crystal Palace’s number 14 accidentally touched the ball twice as it went into the net. The final decision was to redo the penalty,” he said.
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Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher later shared his verdict on the incident on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch. “This is a first in the Premier League because the law was changed because of (Julian) Alvarez in the Champions League,” he explained.
“What they’ve decided now is that it was a coincidence and it’s a do-over that he scored. If he had missed, it would have been an indirect free kick. I think that makes sense. He didn’t mean to slip.”
Nevertheless, Jay Bothroyd explained why United should be furious that they were given a second chance after Mateta’s blunder. “I don’t agree with that,” he added.
“He steps forward to take the penalty and he steps in and touches the ball. It’s bad technique. If he takes a bad touch, it’s just a bad touch. He steps in front of the ball and crosses it.”
“It’s his fault. He shouldn’t be given the chance to live with his mistakes again.”
Had this situation occurred last season, it would have been considered a penalty miss by Mateta, but Julian Alvarez’s controversial double-touch in Atlético Madrid’s Champions League loss to Real Madrid prompted Ifab to enter into negotiations with UEFA.
The rule was subsequently amended to state that if an accidental “double touch” spot-kick goes into the net, it should be retaken rather than disallowed. Fortunately, it didn’t matter too much as Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount both found their marks to move the match in United’s direction.
The win at Selhurst Park was the ideal response to Monday night’s home game against Everton, despite enjoying the man advantage for more than an hour. Palace only featured in France a few days ago and Amorim admitted that factor contributed to their success.
“The little things helped. The pace and intensity were better in the second half. You could see Palace getting tired at the end of the first half and we knew if we scored they would suffer,” he said.
“We continued to control the game well away from the goal and in the opponent’s half. We controlled the game well, but we have to be careful about what we did in the first half.”
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