MANCHESTER CITY fans were left fuming after being denied a penalty deep in stoppage time against RB Leipzig.
With the score level at 1-1, the ball appeared to strike Benjamin Henrichs on the arm in the Leipzig box.
As Rodri headed down a Riyad Mahrez cross into the box, the Leipzig man appeared to instinctively put his hands up.
And replays suggested Henrichs clearly made contact with the ball with his hands.
City stars immediately put their own hands up, appealing for a penalty to be given.
But referee Serdar Gozubuyuk was unmoved and blew for full-time just moments later.
Read More on Man City
The match finished 1-1 after Josko Gvardiol’s towering header cancelled out Mahrez’s opener.
But fans on social media were left fuming at being denied a late penalty.
One wrote on Twitter: “This game is so rigged.”
Another added: “That is one of the worst I’ve seen.”
Most read in Champions League
FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS – BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS
A third fumed: “What a farce.”
And a fourth said: “That was as blatant of a handball as it gets at the end of the game. City have been robbed.”
BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand was also in agreement.
He said: “That’s handball. He’s tried to push it away.”
Ferdinand added: “I think the City players’ reaction tells you all you need to know there. They all react and they all go to the referee.”
Ex-Prem ref Mark Halsey’s analysis
MANCHESTER CITY should have been awarded a last-gasp penalty at Leipzig.
I felt it was a deliberate handball by Benjamin Henrichs to stop Rodri’s header.
Henrichs moved both of his arms towards the ball and pushed it away. Rodri’s header was not at pace so I couldn’t believe what Henrichs was doing.
Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk did not point to the spot and VAR official Pol van Boekel did not intervene.
VAR can check a penalty shout even after the final whistle.
Former Premier League referee Peter Walton claimed on BT Sport after the game that VAR did not even check the incident.
Walton said: “The VAR did not check it. I have a monitor linked with Uefa that tells me when VAR are checking incidents.
“This particular incident wasn’t checked, and I’m surprised it wasn’t.”
Read More on The Sun
Meanwhile, City boss Pep Guardiola said: “I didn’t see it, so I cannot talk, but I know what happened in these situations.”
Guardiola held a team talk on the pitch at the full-time whistle – echoing shades of Hull boss Phil Brown at the Etihad in 2008.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
