A former player and referee have united to clear Aberdeen star Duk over claims he should have given away a penalty in the closing stages of the clash with Celtic.
The forward was among the talking points coming out of Celtic Park – having been denied a winner in the top of the Scottish Premiership clash after VAR chalked off his effort for handball with the game level at 2-2. But it was his goalline clearance in the closing stages that caught the eye of Neil McCann and the Sportscene panel as he blocked Alistair Johnston’s low drive in injury time after goalkeeper Dimitor Mitov had initially clawed Adam Idah’s header from point blank range out of the net.
Referee Nick Walsh initially opted against awarding a spot kick and a VAR check would back up the man in the middle. Former Rangers hero McCann reckons the ball struck the Aberdeen man on the leg before going close to the attacker’s arm stating: “What a save that is, Mitov, I mean it’s a point blank header. I have to say, Duk makes a better save. A fraction of an inch up and it maybe catches him on the arm.
“They are saying it maybe comes off the arm here, it might, but if it does it comes off the leg first. It comes off the upper thigh for me and then maybe ricochets against the body. How he has managed to position himself there and keep his arms out of the way is exceptional, because Alistair Johnston has flushed that.”
McCann’s interpretation would be backed up by IFAB rules, which state if the football is moving quickly and the player cannot move their hand or arm out of the ball’s way after it hits your leg then it is not considered a handball. Former SFA whistler Bobby Madden also backed up the match officials.
Posting on Instagram, he declared that refereeing teams came to the correction decisions in both flashpoints involving Duk: “A correct intervention to disallow Duk goal. Very difficult to see on field and why VAR was introduced.
“Credit to the match officials for two decisions in the 100th minute. With further claims for a penalty for handball correctly waved away for a goal line clearance.”
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