MANCHESTER UNITED legend Rio Ferdinand believes Crystal Palace should have been awarded a penalty against Arsenal in the first half.
Gabriel Magalhaes appeared to have handed the ball inside the Gunners’ area on 36 minutes but referee Anthony Taylor waved play on.
BT Sport pundit Ferdinand took to Twitter after the questionable call and asked fans for their verdict.
The legendary centre-back suggested that the Palace players may have been right to protest the ref’s decision.
Ferdinand tweeted: “Handball…..? Thoughts.”
Fans flooded social media and many claimed Patrick Vieira’s men should have been awarded a spot-kick.
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One fan posted: “Palace should have been rewarded with a penalty, clear handball.”
Another wrote: “How is that not a handball on Gabriel?”
A third said: “Arsenal looking really good so far. How was that Gabriel handball not a penalty tho?”
Another tweeted: “I wonder why Anthony Taylor didn’t give Palace their penalty from that Gabriel handball.”
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And that one posted: “Wait how was that not a handball on Gabriel?”
Arsenal were 1-0 up at half-time thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s opener after just 20 minutes.
And an own goal from Marc Guehi after the break ensure the Gunners started the campaign with a comfortable win.
IT JUST HIT HIM, SAYS MARK HALSEY
By Mark Halsey
CRYSTAL PALACE appealed for a first-half handball by Arsenal defender Gabriel but I didn’t think it was a penalty.
The ball came out of the sky but Gabriel’s arm was in a natural position. It just hit him.
There was no recommendation for referee Anthony Taylor to view the monitor by VAR official Darren England and it was the correct call.
Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka was the first player to be cautioned this season for an act of simulation.
But Palace’s Eberechi Eze did the same in the second half and was not yellow carded. What was the difference?
It wasn’t a difficult match for Taylor to manage. He let the game flow well.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
