Harry Maguire played a massive role in Manchester United’s second goal against Ipswich Town, but the VAR review and the handball controversy are what everyone’s talking about in the Premier League right now. Maguire clearly handled the ball in the build-up before striking at goal. His effort wasn’t even on target, right? It took a wicked deflection off Jacob Graves to hand the hosts the lead at Old Trafford, before Bruno Fernandes struck twice more to send the Red Devils clear at 4-1.
What Happened: Accidental or Not?
Man, that second goal, it sparked widespread debate. Everyone was asking, “Wait, Maguire totally handled that, right?” The big deal was his good fortune, not converting it himself. VAR took a look, obviously. But get this: they said because Maguire’s benefit didn’t *directly* result in the goal, since it deflected off Graves, the goal counted! Gary Neville even admitted the rule would need to be looked at after discovering the reason. The Premier League match centre confirmed it: “The referee’s call of goal for Manchester United was checked and confirmed by VAR , with it deemed that Maguire was not the immediate goalscorer after an accidental handball.”
The Rulebook Says What?!
VAR even added, “It’s an own goal and the accidental handball is not punishable, so we recommend you award the goal.” Are you serious? The rule itself reads that it is an offense if a player scores in the opponents’ goal: “,Directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper” or “,Immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental.” But then there are “mitigating factors” like: “,Goal not immediate,” “,Goal scored by a teammate,” or “,Ball not entering goal; however action of a defender results in an ‘own goal’.” The real head-scratcher here is “accidental handball,” because, let’s be real, that handball was crucial to Maguire gaining possession in the first place.
After all that, Fernandes completed his hat-trick, and Bryan Mbeumo added a fifth, pushing United to a 4-1 victory. So, they bagged their first points of the 2026/27 season. But you gotta wonder how many more goals are going to come down to this kind of wild interpretation of “accidental.” This rule is gonna keep this debate alive for a while, no doubt.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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