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Football London
Football London
Sport
Jamie Kemble

Willian issues verdict on controversial handball decision during Arsenal's draw with Burnley

Arsenal were left hard done by on Saturday afternoon when they were forced to settle for a draw against Burnley.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the Gunners ahead within six minutes but the lead did not last, Chris Wood scoring a bizarre equaliser for the hosts after Granit Xhaka hammered the ball against the Clarets striker, only to see it bounce in.

Mikel Arteta's men had a host of chances to win the game, but were left frustrated by a series of blocks and the woodwork, which kept the Gunners out despite a late rush of chances.

In the second half, Arsenal were also denied a penalty when Nicolas Pepe tried to beat Erik Pieters in the box, the ball striking the left-back on the hand.

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The ball did clearly hit Pieters' hand but referee Andre Marriner did not think it qualified as a handball, waving away strong appeals from the Arsenal players.

After the game, the Gunners players were incensed, particularly having failed to find a winner, and winger Willian took to Instagram to vent his frustration.

Willian posted a picture of the incident, of the ball on Pieters' hand and with a 'thinking face' emoji to his Instagram story, more than hinting that Marriner and the VAR got the wrong decision.

Willian was not happy with the handball decision (Willian Borges/Instagram)

The incident was, of course, reviewed by VAR, but officials agreed that it was not handball, and it comes as IFAB changed the handball rules, but for offensive situations rather than defensive, and from July 1.

IFAB released a statement this week confirming a law change that would no longer oblige referees to give handball when it was accidental when leading to a chance.

“Accidental handball that leads to a team-mate scoring a goal or having a goal-scoring opportunity will no longer be considered an offence," read the law change.

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