Keith Hackett amazed after Ryan Sessegnon’s Fulham strike rule out v Aston Villa
Keith Hackett has issued an “amazing” verdict after the decision to disallow Ryan Sessegnon’s equaliser for Fulham in their defeat to Aston Villa.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that the full-back’s goal was rightly ruled out for handball, but that he was unfortunate with the way the ball dropped to him.
Aston Villa kept their Champions League hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Fulham at Villa Park on Saturday (3 May).
Youri Tielemans‘ header in the 12 minute proved to be the only goal of the game, after the Cottagers would later have their leveller through Sessegnon ruled out.
Handball costs Ryan Sessegnon at Villa Park
There was some big calls for referee Rob Jones to make during this match, with Ollie Watkins being denied a penalty after a nudge from Antonee Robinson inside the Fulham area.
Five minutes into the second half, Sessegnon thought he had equalised for the visitors, when he brought the ball down on his chest inside the Aston Villa area.
| Ryan Sessegnon vs Aston Villa | Total (SofaScore) |
| Shots on Target | 0 |
| Shots off Target | 0 |
| Successful Dribbles | 0/3 |
| Accurate Passes | 16/17 |
| Duels Won | 3/9 |
After then firing into the bottom corner of Emi Martinez’ goal, Jones then blew the whistle to disallow the goal for handball.
With replays showing that the ball had brushed the arm of the Fulham ace on it’s way to the ground, that decision was supported by VAR.
Now Hackett has indicated that ruling out the goal was the right decision, even if he has some sympathy with Sessegnon, amid amazement at how officials deal with such incidents has now changed.
Fulham disallowed goal verdict issued
After being asked by Football Insider what he made of the decision to disallow that goal from Sessegnon, Hackett said:
“The referee was in a good position. Bit of bad luck really but I don’t think he can give anything else other than that.
“The referee in that situation is always going to air on the side of safety. The argument that you can put against the decision when you’re analysing it is the word ‘deliberate’.
“That’s part of the law. Was that action by Sessegnon deliberate. That is subjective. This referee decides what he’s done is deliberate, he’s gone safety first.
“He’s just said, ‘right I’m judging that as handball, nobody’s going to query it’. And I don’t think you can. It’s amazing how it moves on.
“Because if you remember when we started looking at these there was almost that sort of consistent approach by referees giving those decisions. They’ve obviously gained a bit of guidance, so I’m ok with that.”