‘It should have been a penalty’ – Ex-Fifa official on the foul by Southampton players on De Bruyne

Ex-Fifa official Keith Hackett has claimed Man City should have had a penalty during their 1-1 draw with Southampton on Saturday (22 January).

In the 76th minute, with the score 1-1, he ran into the penalty area of the “Saints” Kevin De Bruynewho had his leg tripped and the Belgian landed on the grass as a result.

Judge Simon Hooper did not find a violation and ordered to continue the game. In the next break, this situation was looked at by the VAR referees, who checked whether Pep Guardiola’s team was not entitled to a penalty kick.

The reruns show that both Oriol Romeu and Mohammed Salisu set foot on Kevin De Bruyne. So the foul is obvious, but there is a problem where it happened. The whole situation took place at the edge of the penalty area and the referees had to assess the exact place of the offense.

Ultimately, after a long analysis, it was decided that the foul had occurred before the penalty area, hence the VAR refrained from intervening in accordance with the rules.

“This was the one that was on the penalty box and it was on the line and it was a foul,” Hackett said via Football Insider.

“The explanation was it was outside the penalty area. The PGMOL recognise there was a foul.

“The second thing here is to recognise that the line of the penalty area is in fact the penalty area. Any offence that is committed on the line of the penalty area is regarded as inside the penalty area and that’s where the offence took place.

“It should have been a penalty but they said it was outside the area. If you look at the video, it’s on the line. It’s such a tight call.

“I can’t understand why Darren England, the VAR, did not give that as a penalty kick. He’s given a foul but it’s not outside the area. The line is not outside, does he need to be reminded of the laws?”