Benjamin Henrichs was penalised for handball after 21 minutes (Picture: Getty)
Cesc Fabregas and Alan Shearer both slammed football’s handball laws after Manchester City were handed a controversial penalty against RB Leipzig in their Champions League tie.
City were awarded a spot kick 21 minutes into Tuesday’s second-leg clash at the Etihad when defender Benjamin Henrichs was judged to have handled the ball in the area to block Rodri’s header.
The contact appeared purely accidental with Henrichs unaware the ball had hit his arm. While play continued, referee Slavko Vincic was sent to his monitor by the VAR and awarded the penalty.
City would eventually run out 7-0 winners, equalling their record European win as Erling Haaland bagged five goals on a record-breaking night for the striker.
But the early handball decision received widespread criticism with former Arsenal captain Fabregas writing on Twitter: ‘We’ve lost the plot if that is a pen.’
Alan Shearer raged: ‘What a pile of s**t the handball law is’ while Rio Ferdinand questioned the logic in new hand ball rules from the BT Sport studio.
‘The letter of the law would say it’s a penalty but this is a bad rule.
Haaland stepped up to score the first of his five goals (Picture: Getty)
‘He (Henrichs) is not looking at the ball. When he’s jumping his hands have to be around that area and I think it’s a bad decision… or I should say bad rule.’
Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha added: ‘It’s not something that I thought was serious.
‘Rodri wasn’t appealing, it (the ball) has barely touched him, the video referee has seen something that no one really cares about.’
Despite the controversial penalty decision, RB Leipzig boss Marco Rose conceded his side were ‘especially bad’ on the night as City ran riot.
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‘I know Erling very well, I know his qualities. When Erling is close to the goal, he wants to grab one. He scored four – no, even five tonight.
‘We never managed to get into the game. That is my responsibility. We conceded the goals in a manner that makes this very bitter. City more than deserved their win.
‘We were especially bad when it came to defending inside the penalty area. And we did so in a round of 16 game in the Champions League! They changed a few things in their pressing compared to the second half in Leipzig and this is something we had not expected.’
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City were awarded a penalty after 21 minutes.