Rodri has admitted he handled the ball in his own penalty area against Everton back in February, with the decision going on to help decide the outcome of the Premier League title-race in Man City’s favour.
Pep Guardiola’s side were three points clear of second-placed Liverpool ahead of kick-off, while Everton were just a point above the relegation zone as Frank Lampard’s side hosted the would-be champions at Goodison Park.
Phil Foden had fired City in front late on in the 82nd minute, only for the Blues to be denied the opportunity to equalise moments later when Rodri clearly handled inside the box yet Everton were not awarded a penalty after a VAR review.
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After the game, Lampard branded the decision made by VAR referee Chris Kavanagh 'incompetence at best’, while referee chief Mike Riley would phone both the Blues boss and Everton chairman Bill Kenwright to apologise.
Man City would hold on to clinch a 1-0 victory at Goodison, while they would later finish a point above Liverpool to clinch the title after coming from behind to beat Aston Villa on the final day of the season. As a result, had a penalty been given and Everton scored to earn a share of the spoils, it would have been their Merseyside rivals who would have, on paper, finished the season as champions.
The incident was recently brought up once again after Rodri was pictured signing a picture of him handling the ball against Everton when away on Man City’s pre-season tour.
And while the Spaniard denied that he knew what he was signing, he admitted he had handled the ball against the Blues - though sidestepped when asked whether he would have awarded a penalty.
“Honestly I didn’t realise I was signing that. It was a picture, I just signed it,” he told the ¡Qué Golazo! podcast. “Then when my missus sent me a photo, what I signed, I was like, “What?!
“It's part of football. Sometimes, it was in that picture, in that moment but I just move on. I don't think much about it.”
“We have a Premier League meeting where the referees come and we discussed that (whether it should have been a penalty),” he added when asked if he thought it should have been a penalty. “The problem in that game is they put the flag up so we were a bit confused.
“Maybe he was just offside and the hand didn’t. Of course, now I've seen the image and the ball is in the part of the hand that you can say it's a penalty.
“In that moment, honestly, I don't know. Many things coming. I was praying, of course, they didn't give it because I remember it was a tough, tough game. Sometimes they give, sometimes they don't give. It's like this.”
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