Point 1. I am not a Liverpool fan, so there’s no ‘we’re through’ to it. Of course I wanted the English team(s) to progress and I’d favour Liverpool over most of the other suspects (Mancs of either persuasion, and certainly Chelsea) but there’s no ‘we’ beyond that. My comments are from a mainly non-biased perspective.
Point 2. I’m a qualified Ref and as such possibly better placed to comment on aspects of law. And my first comment is that the handball law is a mess.
From the FA website, in itself a copy of the FIFA one:
HANDLING THE BALL
Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with the hand or arm.
The following must be considered:
- the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)
- the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)
- the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an offence
- touching the ball with an object held in the hand (clothing, shinguard, etc.) is an offence
- hitting the ball with a thrown object (boot, shinguard, etc.) is an offence
**
In respect of all the handballs we saw in this tie (both legs) by the letter of the laws I’d reckon that none of them were ‘deliberate’. But then you have interpretation, and people adding their own nuances like hands being in an un-natural position (which then leads to interpretation that by charging at a ball with arms up you are increasing your blocking area and then if the ball hits your hands above your head you deliberately put them there….. and so on)
I think the only solution becomes one of if it touches the hand, it’s a handball – but then are players skillful enough to try to hit a hand or arm and so earn fouls and penalties in that way. Maybe a ‘non deliberate’ ball to hand offence is only an indirect freekick; to be a penalty it has to be clearly hand to ball?
Thirdly; the Mane push was a penalty that should have been given. The Karius ‘foul’ on Dzeko that you claim was stonewall – the ball wasn’t even in play, he’d been given offside already!! If you want a penalty for that, you’ll be claiming the goals scored in the prematch warm-up next!