Michael Owen says handball rule an 'absolute mess' after late controversy in West Ham loss to Freiburg in Europa League

Michael Owen has described the handball rule as "an absolute mess" after West Ham were denied a penalty in the dying stages of their UEFA Europa League 1-0 defeat to Freiburg.

There was drama in stoppage time of the last-16 tie in Germany when the ball struck the arm of Noah Weisshaupt inside the home side's penalty area - but after a VAR check which lasted more than four minutes, referee Alejandro Hernandez decided not to award the spot-kick having reviewed the incident on the pitch-side monitor.

The decision left Owen and his TNT Sports colleague Steve Sidwell baffled.

"It's just incredibly inconsistent. The handball rule is an absolute mess, I feel at the moment," said Owen.

"From what we've seen of that type of decision in the recent past, then you'd say it's a penalty.

"I think based on the current way we referee games, I think it's a penalty. But I suppose it was a fairish result in the end because West Ham weren't really pushing forward, they were happy with 0-0, and I think there was only one team wanting to win it at the end."

Sidwell added: "When I first saw it in real time, I said penalty straight away, just because the arm is in an unnatural position. The arm is far up - I can’t believe that’s not been given. West Ham fans and players will be absolutely furious.

"The players have crowded the referee and it’ll be interesting to see what explanation has been given.

"I mean, it is close proximity to the ball, but the arm is still above the shoulders and the head - it’s an unnatural position for me.

"Looking at the referee's actions when he's talking to David Moyes, it looks as though he was saying motion from behind forced the arm to go up.

"The left elbow or forearm of [Tomas] Soucek goes into the back of the player and he thinks that forced him to raise his arms."

Owen believed that Moyes’ side would be disappointed to have come away from Germany without at least a point, given their recent success on the continent, though he anticipated they would ultimately progress.

He said: “They’re experienced in European competition, and I think it was a perfectly acceptable performance away from home.

“There was hardly anything in the game, and they'll be a little bit aggrieved to go home one goal behind but it’s not the worst result in the world. They’ve beaten them twice already this season and I expect them to do it again.”

Sidwell was underwhelmed by their efforts and considered the defeat a missed chance, adding: “I think they lacked that conviction. I thought it was a below-par performance, even away from home.

“0-0 was acceptable but the game was there to be wrapped up. They’ve got to do that now the hard way.”

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