Ante Palaversa was the hero for Aberdeen against Hearts – but he might have turned the villain had ref John Beaton spotted a bizarre ‘handball’ late on.
The Dons continued their astonishing 100 per cent start to the season with a 3-2 win at Pittodrie but were made to work for it by the struggling Jambos. The visitors came from behind to lead, before Nicky Devlin equalised and Palaversa struck late on, sparking wild scenes of celebration.
Hearts also lost Jorge Grant to a second booking in a fiery game that left ref Beaton with his hands full. And in the aftermath, Hearts fans have pointed to an alleged handball the whistler overlooked late on. It came deep into stoppage time after Dons keeper Dimitar Mitov came to claim a cross.
With just seconds remaining of the six added minutes, it was celebrated like a goal, and Palaversa was over to congratulate his keeper as the penalty box cleared. Fans spotted a bizarre moment where he motions to pat the keeper on the chest, and his arm appears to touch the ball while it’s in the keeper’s hands.
Applying the rules strictly, it should have been a penalty if his hand touched the ball, and while Beaton could hardly have been expected to see it live, fans have been asking why VAR didn’t intervene. But Scotland’s Coefficient on Twitter explained that it would have been against the ‘spirit’ of the VAR protocol to step in – because there was no advantage gained.
It’s not dissimilar to the strange incident in Arsenal‘s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich last season, where Harry Kane and co were left raging at the referee for not punishing defender Gabriel after a miscommunication with his keeper. Gunners shotstopper David Raya had passed the ball along his six yard line to his team-mate from a goal-kick, but the defender didn’t realise the ball was live, and stopped it with his hand in order to take the goal-kick himself.
Described by then-Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel as a ‘kid’s mistake’ that should have been punished, the ref took a sympathetic view and didn’t penalise it – again, since there was no sporting advantage gained by the offence.
The incident certainly didn’t spoil it for matchwinner Palaversa, in any case, who admits he got ’emotional’ after his late winner. He said after the match: “To be honest, it was emotional when I scored the last goal. I have been working hard these last two years to be where I am right now. The boys have welcomed me so well and the supporters are so good. I am so happy and proud to be here. I wish and hope we continue like this.”