Thought you’d heard the last of Riyad Mahrez’s disallowed penalty? Think again.
The Leicester man converted his spot kick against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon, seemingly levelling the scores at 2-2. However, before he’d had chance to begin his celebrations, referee Bobby Madley awarded a free-kick to Pep Guardiola’s side after spotting that the Algerian international had made contact with the ball twice as he slipped while taking the penalty.
Many were quick to praise the referee for spotting this, while others, Craig Shakespeare included, felt that Madley and his officials should have spotted that two Manchester City players had entered the area before Marez had touched the ball (for the first time).
“To the letter of the law it’s a double touch,” the Leicester boss said. “But he could bring it back for an encroachment from Manchester City so there’s a bit of injustice. It’s bad luck from our point of view.”
Mahrez Penalty should have been retaken…..END OF pic.twitter.com/asjSLhxv1F
— Rob Nicholson (@bigusrobus) May 13, 2017
Mahrez penalty should have been retaken for encroachment
— Geoff Clarke (@geoffclarke1953) May 13, 2017
Why if referee was absolutely correct did he not allow Mahrez to take the penalty again as there's Man City players encroaching in pen area!
— Richard Collinson (@rcollinsonjsy) May 13, 2017
There were 2 City players well inside the box when Mahrez struck his penalty. It should have been retaken. #MANCvLEIC
— Lord of the Pies (@jamesclossick) May 13, 2017
The FA’s rules on encroachment are summarised in the table below, but given the unusual circumstances, they don’t really clarify the matter. Whereas the ball was converted, the fact it was done so via a double touch may mean that Madley was correct to overlook the encroachment of City’s players, even though this occurred before Mahrez first made contact with the ball.
The scores remained the same after Mahrez’s disallowed penalty, allowing Manchester City to tighten their grip on a Champions League place finish. On Saturday evening, they were third in the Premier League table, two points ahead of Liverpool, who face West Ham on Sunday, and three ahead of fifth placed Arsenal.
